Annual Update

2004 - 2005

Elemental Mercury Collection and Reclamation Program

Bowling Green State University's Elemental Mercury Collection and Reclamation Program formally began in January 1998. The program involves the collection and recycling of uncontaminated elemental mercury that are present in a variety of devices. These sources include thermometers, manometers, barometers, sphygmomanometers (blood pressure measurement devices), mercury-containing heating thermostats, mercury switches, as well as individual containers of elemental mercury. The program is available and FREE to individuals, academic institutions, small businesses, industries, medical and dental facilities, emergency response and other governmental agencies, spill response companies, and any additional entity having unwanted, uncontaminated elemental mercury.

Collaborative partners in the program include Bowling Green State University, Ohio EPA (Division of Emergency and Remedial Response), Rader Environmental Services, Toledo Environmental Services, and OSPPERA (Ohio Spill Planning, Prevention, and Emergency Response Association). Other Ohio county and municipal agencies and departments have also assisted in this effort.

The process involved in the program is relatively straightforward. Those having the mercury make contact with Bowling Green State University or one of the main participants in the program to arrange for the collection of the mercury. At the time of the initial contact, instructions are provided for the proper packaging of the container(s) and the date/time for collection are set. The container(s) of mercury are then collected by one of the program participants according to the specific arrangements. The containers of mercury are taken to Bowling Green State University. Here, the mercury is consolidated by Rader Environmental Services.

As often as necessary, containers of consolidated mercury are shipped to either Mercury Solutions in transported to Environmental Recycling, Inc. of Bowling Green, Ohio for initial processing. BGSU then sends the containers of elemental mercury to either Mercury Waste Solutions of Union Grove, Wisconsin or to Bethlehem Apparatus Products, Inc. of Hellertown, PA to complete the reclamation process. Bills-of-Lading are used during the transport to provide a tracking mechanism as well as to maintain weight data.

Since the program began, mercury has been removed from a variety of sources throughout Ohio as well as from locations in Indiana, southern Michigan, and western Pennsylvania. Thus far, over 10,000 pounds of elemental mercury have been collected and recycled.

Bowling Green State University has also assisted in the removal of mercury-containing fever thermometers from citizens throughout Ohio. Through thermometer exchange projects (digital for mercury), the University has collected and recycled over 10,000 fever thermometers from citizens in southeastern and northwestern Ohio. The University has also assisted municipalities, water treatment facilities, medical facilities, and local health departments throughout Ohio by arranging for the purchase of the digital thermometers as well as by collecting and recycling the mercury-containing thermometers received during their exchange programs.

In December of 2003, BGSU's Elemental Mercury Collection Program became a National Waste Minimization Partner. This program is sponsored by the US Environmental Protection Agency and was developed to address 31 PBTs (persistent, bio-accumulative, and toxic chemicals) in the environment. BGSU is currently the only representative in the "State and Local Government" category.

Within the Partnership Program. BGSU established a goal of collecting 3,000 pounds of elemental mercury over a period of three years beginning in January of 2004. That goal was achieved in August of that year with almost a third of the goal weight coming from the renovation of the Sandusky Wastewater Treatment Plant.

To recognize that accomplishment, the USEPA presented an achievement award to the University and its mercury collection partners. The award was presented on October 25, 2005 at the WasteWi$e Conference held in Arlington, Virginia.

The Mercury Collection Program has submitted a new collection goal as a part of the USEPA Partnership Program - to collect 3,750 from April 2005 to April 2008. Since April 2005, the program has collected over 1,300 pounds.

Additional information on BGSU's Elemental Mercury Collection Program can be accessed through a web page dedicated to the program at: http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/envhs/mercury.htm.

Fire and Ice: Solar Panels Energize Arena

BGSU has taken its first step toward renewable energy with the installation of photovoltaic panels on the roof of the Ice Arena. The project is a partnership between the University and Bowling Green municipal utilities. It has been nurtured along by the strong working relationship between utilities director Daryl Stockburger and Donald Scherer, professor emeritus of philosophy and a longtime proponent of "green" energy.

The utility is paying for the panels through its Green Power Program. Utility customers may opt to pay up to a 1.38 kilowatt-hours surcharge on their electric bills to help the utility invest in renewable energy. About 3 percent of the city's residents have chosen to participate. Their dollars have helped fund such projects as the wind turbines on U.S. 6. Another source of funding comes from "Green Tags" that citizens statewide may purchase under an agreement between American Municipal Power-Ohio and Green Mountain Energy, which helps offset the higher initial cost of providing green energy. The utility also received a $35,000 reimbursement grant from the Ohio Department of Development's Office of Energy Efficiency for the University partnership project.

The solar panels, located on the eastern side of the middle of the arena's roof, will produce 31 kilowatts of energy per hour on a sunny day. When they are operational in mid-September, BGSU will have the second largest array in Ohio, and the energy they produce will be "on the grid" for use in Bowling Green and across the continent, according to Scherer.

"We're taking a phased-in approach," said Stockburger. "I'd like to add another 10 kwh of photovoltaic energy a year. It's part of our plan for diversifying our power supply."

The Ice A rena is a particularly good spot to utilize solar energy because it consumes so much power to keep the facility cold, especially in the summer months when both overall demand and costs are highest. "The solar panels fit perfectly into that niche because they're offsetting our most expensive power just when they're at the peak of their production," Stockburger said.

The new panels, produced by FirstSolar, are being installed by John Witte, a certified solar installer with Advanced Distributive Generation in Maumee. Tim Burns, senior project manager in the Office of Design and Construction, is overseeing the job.

The new panels will be featured in northwest Ohio's Solar Energy Tour on Oct. 2, along with other area sites of renewable energy including the wind turbines. Jessica Belcher, an environmental policy major, planned the regional tour through an environmental studies internship.

"There's the potential for a lot of technologies to be tested," Stockburger said of the project, which has also drawn the attention of other renewable-energy companies. Ballard Power Systems of Vancouver, Canada, is donating for two years an advanced, 30 kwh inverter, the "Ecostar Inverter," which will change the direct current produced by solar energy into the alternating current required to power lights and motors. In return, BGSU will allow the company to remotely monitor the equipment. The company's head engineer will be in Bowling Green Friday (Sept. 10) for a test run.

The first thing the panels will power directly will be the fluorescent lights in the eastern third of the Hall of Fame area of the arena. The University is also testing a special ballast from Nex-Tek designed to allow more efficient use of the energy generated. "Because these ballasts use direct current when it is available but switch seamlessly to standard alternating current when the sun isn't shining, they use the direct current more efficiently," according to Scherer.

"It's one more way we're being extra green as a university besides cooperating with the municipal utility," he said.

Through BGSU's Project EXCITE, which focuses on creating hands-on K-12 science curriculum, Scherer, Amy Boros and Michele Shafer have created a Web site with information about solar energy for schoolchildren and curriculum for teachers.

Boros and Shafer have planned a workshop this month for some Bowling Green teachers to show them how the Web site can fit into their teaching about renewable energy.

A separate plan is for the Project EXCITE Web site to be accessible at an informational kiosk at the governor's mansion in Columbus, where solar panels have also been installed on the former carriage house. "We want to raise awareness about the importance of renewable energy and use Bowling Green as a showcase," Scherer said.

Update from don Scherer, October 11, 2005

The solar panels themselves went into service on Sept. 14, 2004. As of Sept. 13, 2005, we had collected 28803 kwh DC, which inverted to 26561 kwh AC. After the right breakers were put into the breaker boxes, on Sept. 15, 2004, the system functioned flawlessly for the entire year, using the inverter Ballard donated to the project in exchange for donated data on the array's performance. These kw hours were generated by 30 kw of PV; an additional 1 kw produced DC used without inversion to feed 19 special ac/dc ballasts, manufactured by Nex-Tek, feeding 38 T-8 fluorescent fixtures at the east end of the Hall of Fame. These ballasts use dc to the extent that it is available but seemlessly switch to ac whenever or to the extent that dc is not available. Bowling Green Municipal Utilities has contracted to install 10 more kw of PV on the roof yet this fall. 5 of those kw will run through the Ballard inverter; 5 are projected to run through another Nex-Tek application that will allow a 10 hp brinepump to operate as do the fluorescent fixtures, i.e., using DC when and to the extent available, but using AC when needed. Besides avoiding the inefficiency of inversion, the Nex-Tek application allows the pump to operate at various speeds for greater efficiency. The Electric Vehicle Institute is the assigned agent to test the Nex-Tek application for the Electric Vehicle Research Institute. A study of the feasibility of renovating the ice arena is underway. How to incorporate the use of PV-generated electricity in the arena is a part of that study.

More information about the project can be found at its website: http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/edhd/programs/excite/SolarEnergyBG/

Project Brings Environmental Learning to 5-9th Graders

Through a seven-year National Institutes of Environmental Health Science grant, the Project EXCITE (Environmental Health Science eXplorations through Cross-disciplinary & Investigative Team Experiences) team uses locally relevant Environmental Health Science topics to engage 4th to 9th grade students in valuable learning experiences across several disciplinary areas. Project EXCITE emphasizes problem based learning, interdisciplinary connections, collaborative learning, and the use of technology.

School teams consisting of four teachers representing various disciplines and a BGSU student teacher complete two years of professional development to design, implement, refine, and publish local Environmental Health Science units using problem based learning strategies. Student success goals include improved performance on standardized achievement tests, increased identification of environmental social responsibility, and participation in culminating service learning projects.

For additional information, contact the Project Excite office.

Orphan Chemical Recycling Program

BGSU has another waste minimization initiative in the Orphan Chemical Recycling Program. Beginning in 1994, BGSU has served as a clearinghouse for useable but unwanted laboratory chemicals (orphans) that may be found in various facilities and institutions. The program addresses unnecessary disposal of these materials in consideration that they may be needed by others.

In the program, academic institutions, research and development laboratories, governmental facilities, and other similar entities inventory their useable but unwanted chemicals. The data are then submitted to BGSU's Safety and Health Coordinator who subsequently consolidates the listings and places them on an internet web site. Chemical information received includes the chemical name, number of containers, total volume or weight, and whether the containers have been opened.

Facilities and institutions having the orphan chemical(s) maintain them at their own location until they are requested. BGSU does not collect them for storage at the University. The facility/institution wanting to obtain an orphan or orphans contacts BGSU's Safety and Health Coordinator who, in turn, contacts the individual(s) having the chemical(s) and makes the arrangements for transfer. Transfers of the orphan chemicals are made in accordance with DOT and other governmental requirements. The program is also free of charge to those participating in the recycling program.

The benefits of this program are not only those to the environment, but they also involve financial considerations. For each transaction, there are dual cost savings - those to the "giver" for disposal costs and to the "receiver" for purchase costs. Thus far, the program has been responsible for transferring over 4,000 pounds of solids and 1,500 gallons of liquids. This translates into between $370,000 and $460,000 in cost savings.

Additional information can be found on BGSU's Orphan Chemical program web site.

Campus Urged to 'Power Down'

As the leaves outside turn red, a flurry of green is sprouting indoors across campus. Stickers advising faculty, staff and students to "Power Down" are appearing on light switches, computers and office machines. In keeping with the adage "less is more," the University is encouraging everyone to conserve energy whenever possible by turning off computers, lights, copiers, printers and other equipment that uses electricity.

Spearheaded by the Office of Finance and Administration and led by Craig Wittig, director of BGSU's recycling program, Power Down aims to raise the campus community's awareness that simple changes such as turning off a light can have a large, cumulative impact. "There are thousands of us using lights and office machines," Wittig said. "By making even these small changes, we can have a very positive effect on our energy use and cost savings."The mantra for recycling is "reduce, reuse, recycle," which the University is attempting to apply to energy consumption. While campus is doing well with recycling, reducing consumption is also very important. "Recycling has more of a global or national impact, but reducing our consumption is something that really affects us locally," Wittig said. "It all ties together."

The initiative began about two years ago when BGSU Environmental Programs students conducted a study to estimate how much power the University uses. They found that 96,347,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity are used on campus per year-enough to supply more than 12,000 average American homes with power for a year, Wittig said.Student employees in recycling are now placing the Power Down stickers in offices and academic departments. The stickers are scheduled to go up in residence halls over winter break. "We can all try to think of other small ways we can save energy, such as setting our computers to go to sleep after a period of time," Wittig said.

Move-Out Program

For the past three years the Office of Residence Life has sponsored the "When You Move Out, Don't Throw It Out" program in residence and dining halls at the end of the spring semester. The program is designed to encourage students to donate food, clothing, personal items, furniture, and other things that they might normally simply throw out. Each year the amounts collected have increased dramatically to the point where almost twenty different organizations, shelters, and food pantries were able to benefit from the donations after the May, 2004 collection was completed. Students learn the value of philanthropy as well as how to reduce, reuse, and recycle to further the sustainability efforts of the university. In November, 2004 the program was recognized with the "Outstanding Project of the Year" award at the annual conference of the Great Lakes Association of College and University Housing Officers in Cleveland, Ohio.

Residence Hall Programming

The Educational Initiatives area of Residence Life is highly supportive of programming and other efforts to educate residential students on the value of sustainability. Examples for the 2004 fall semester include:

• Creation of a program assignment for RA's on some staffs for the purpose of focusing on environmentally-based and sustainability programs to be conducted in the residence halls;
• Internal policies which decrease or prohibit the use of Styrofoam and other non-recyclable materials at events and programs;
• Continued support for the university recycling program by having recycling containers in every residence hall room, and larger containers on every floor and in lobbies;
• Support for the Recycling Wars competition within the residence halls;
• Coordination of recycling effort to take place with university-sponsored off-campus apartments beginning in January, 2005.

BGSU Teams with Toledo Neighborhood Group to Rid Homes of Lead

Residents of a Toledo neighborhood are being recruited to reduce the risk of lead in their homes.

Doing the recruiting is a neighborhood group that has joined with public health advocates in the city and at BGSU in an effort to minimize children's exposure to the dangerous metal.

Together, they're hoping that 100 households in the Lagrange community will participate, learning cleaning techniques to lower the amount of dust containing lead in and around their homes.

Most of the homes in the economically stressed neighborhood are older, built before 1978, when the federal government banned lead-based paint from housing. When that paint flakes off, it is easily inhaled or ingested by young children, who can suffer developmental, neurological and other acute problems as a result of high levels of lead in their blood, says Gary Silverman, director of BGSU's Environmental Health Program.

"It's a huge issue" in terms of pediatric care costs, adds Hailu Kassa, public and allied health, who is working on the project with Silverman. The Environmental Health Program, part of the College of Health and Human Services, is using a two-year, $49,000 grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Education Fund for the Toledo training effort.

It began this summer with recruitment of representatives from the Lagrange Development Corp., a privately funded community development group. Jennifer Wise, a Lagrange staff member, found three residents to take training on how to reduce children's exposure to lead.

The primary trainer was Andrea Cook, lead coordinator for the Northwest Ohio Regional Resource Center. Representatives from the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department and the Toledo Department of Neighborhoods were also involved.

The training included demonstrations of how to clean. Because paint rubs and chips when windows are opened and closed, lead is often found on windowsills and nearby, according to Silverman. Windowsills should be cleaned regularly using "common-sense cleaning techniques" to lower the availability of dust containing lead, he says. For example, adds Kassa, surfaces should be dampened before cleaning to keep dust out of the air.

The state and local health departments are helping provide cleaning supplies for the project, and the neighborhoods department is supplying vacuum cleaners with special, high efficiency particle arresting (HEPA) filters. The intent is to provide a vacuum for every house-a goal the organizers may need to meet with additional support from the business community.

The importance of hand washing and other personal hygiene will also be stressed to project participants, as will the role that nutritional vitamins-especially iron and calcium-can play in warding off lead in the body.

When a household agrees to participate, local health department representatives visit the house for an evaluation of environmental lead and blood lead levels in the children living there. If levels are high, the residents are advised what actions to take in conjunction with the health and neighborhoods departments.

The children's blood lead levels will be tracked for a couple years, Silverman notes, calling that "a very good indicator of how effective this (project) is."

To participate, individuals must live in the Lagrange neighborhood, in an older house with potential for lead contamination, and have at least one child under age 5. Clusters of homes that meet the criteria have been identified and are being targeted by recruiters.

Research has indicated that one-time lead abatement training hasn't been effective in other areas, Kassa says. But the Toledo training will be reinforced, and by people the participants know from the community. "With these two key elements added, we think it's going to work," he says, calling it a "very good example" both of cooperation among agencies and BGSU's engagement with the larger community.

If the project is successful, he adds, "it could be a model for the whole country."

Licensing of BGSU Hybrid Diesel/Electric Propulsion System Patent Approved by Trustees

The board of trustees agreed to license a hybrid diesel/electric propulsion system for use in small transit buses to Goshen Coach of Elkhart, Ind. To encourage local business development and job creation, the University also has offered to forego 25 percent of its licensing fee if the systems are manufactured in Bowling Green.

The hybrid motor evolved from the Electric Falcon race car, College of Technology Dean Ernest Savage told the board, expressing thanks to Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-Toledo) for helping obtain a NASA grant for continuation of the project.

The diesel-electric hybrid bus uses unique ultracapacitors that replace batteries and endure for the life of the bus. The motor conserves energy lost during braking and stores it for use in accelerating, Savage explained, saving fuel and money. "We're very excited about the project," he said, adding that the bus would be on display at Homecoming.

President Ribeau commented that the commercialization of the patent and effort to bring jobs to the community help the University "take the next step from becoming the premier learning community in Ohio to an actively engaged university."