WHITI3Y FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3. 1986, PAGE 5 "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mir d of man'$ Thomas Jefferson Advise an'd Dissen Last week, an Environmental Assessment Board approved the application of Decom Medical Wastes Systems ta build a pathological waste transfer station in Witby. 1Iwas nôt surprised. The Assessment Board's mandate was limited ta consideration of the poten- tial for envlronmental damage. Since ail the experts considered this minimal, the Board had no choice but ta ignore the fears and concerns real and imaglnery) of the residents and poiticians. I can sympathize with the residents of the Corridor Area but the Environnien- tal Assessment Board was rlghk Pathaligical waste is a bureaucratic nightmare, not an environniental one. Until a nionth aga, 1 was the Chief Technologist at the J.O. Ruddy Hospital here In Whltby and was Chairman of the Hospital's Hazardous Waste Commit- tee. Sa, I can speak with flrst hand knowledge of the problems of hospital waste. I will try ta, discuss the issue in layman's terms, but if I get tao technical in spots, please bear with me. The hype which bas been generated in regards ta hospital waste is simply without rnedical or scientific foundation. The risk of an epidemic arising from such wasteis very remnote and if the waste Is handled carefully, the risk is nil. Sa, why the fuss? Regulation 309 of the Enviranniental Protection Act defines ail envlronmentally hazardaus wastes and ranks them in order of their risk - or 50 the Ministry of the Enviranment wauld have us believe. Few would quarrel wlth the highest risk group which Includes the dioxins, the most potent poisons known. Nor would anyone quarrel with the 3rd highest risk graup, the PCB's ,which are the mast potent cancer causing agents. But in between these in spot nurnber two, sanie bureaucrat put pathalogical waste. Regulation-309 defines Pathologicai Waste as 1) anatomical parts removed from the human body, 2) animal carcasses which are-infectiaus and 3) non- anatamical waste which is infectiaus. The Regulatian goes an ta define certain exemptions which happens ta include doctor's offices and clinics. Hospitals have had to bear the brunt of a very badly written law. Anatamical remains are an esthetic problem rather than an enviranmental one. Throughaut the Decam contraversy, there seemed ta be an underlying fear of trucks laaded with human iimbs carelessly dropping them on people's front lawns. In reality, recognizable anatomical parts canstitute an incr edibly small part of the total surgicai waste. Virtually ail anatomical remains are unrecognizable and are processed in the bospitai in such a way as ta be tatally sterile. The counting, recaunting, cbecking and recbecking procedures required of patholagical waste carriers precludes any accidential lasses. Anatomical waste is flot an environniental hazard. It is the infectiaus waste that is a potential problem. But even here the hype bas been spawned by a'nuinher of misconceptians. Firstly, the majarity of people in hospitals are there for reasons other than infection (e.g. cancer, beart disease, diabetes, surgery, etc.). Secondly, the infections that are treated i hospitals are exactly the same (except in degree) ta thase that you treat at home with your favourite snake il. The persan who winds up in the hospital with pneunionia is probably coughing out'the same gernis as the guy wba is sneezlng and sniffling in front of you in the supermarket lineup. When you cut your finger at home and bloody a piece of Kleenex you put it in the garbage and it gets hauled away by the garbageman. If yau blaady the same piece of Kleenex in a haspital, it Is cansidered a bazardous waste and a wbole set af bureacratic regulations came inta play ta govern ts "safe" disposaI. The point is that witb very rare exceptions, there is nothing particularly exotic or dangerous i hospital waste that warrants ail the fuss. (The excep- tions are a few very rare ighly contagions diseases which are separateiy con- trailed by other Acts and Regulations.) The hazards inherent in pathological waste are afready present in the enviramnent albeit nat in the same concen- trations. Drug wastes, specifically anti-cancer drugs are a concern wich was illen- tioned briefly at the EAB hearing. Typically, the bureaucracy tbat created the Envirornentai Protection Act was asleep at the switch when they drafted Regulatian 309. Such wastes are neyer mentianed. Fartunately haspitals and other agencies are aware of the dangers and bave made provision for their safe handling. Hospital waste bas existed as long as haspitals but untii iast year was not regulated. To my knowiedge there bas neyer been any epidemics or other serions accidents arising dfrectly from such waste. The nurses, doctors and iab technologists who bave been worklng with the stuff for years find the current cancers rather strange. The precautions nsed internally in hospitals were until very recently far less stringent than those expected of Decam. There is cer- tainly a need ta regulate such waste but ta rate it as more dangerons than PCBs was an act of stupid bureaucratic overkill. An intergavernniental task force report which recently recammended an-site incineration of hospital wastes is merely a piece of impracticai idealism. The cost of constructing new incinerators and upgrading aid ones would be an horrendous expense and each installation would be subject ta the same en- viromnental assessment process that Decam bas gone through but witb the ad- ditiomi cancern of emission contrais. I bave been bandllng so-cailed pathologicai materials withaut misbap for most of the iast 20 years. I can state withaut hesitation that 99 percent of the materiai being bandled by Decom wiii be safer. than your bonsebold garbage. Since there is no regulatian of honsebald garbage, wba knows what bazards are being produced in peaple's basements, garages, and kitchens and then discar- ded. Provided Decam folows the appropriate regulations and adheres ta the con- ditions laid down by the Enviranniental Assessment Board, the residents of Whitby need bave no fear. Decam's facility will be as safe and probably a lot safer than mast of its indnstrial neighbours. WITH OUJR FEET UP By Bill Swan Yau saw them yesterday rnorning as you drove ta work: ail the children of the world, lined up at bus stops, lurchlng aiang walkways, clinging ta the sides of schooi buses. Dressed in their best designer-fasbioned, peer- marketed clothes, scrubbed dlean of suminer grub, starving for social contacts, off they went ta school. We all remember the feeling. But the thrill of a new school year will soon wear off. By Thanksgiving, thase same children wîll be doing what right thinking children have aiways done: hating scbool. The student happiest in the classroam will iikeiy be cansidered a misfit. Why? For twa reasons. First, we have not decided what we want aur schoois ta do. Scbooi cbildren have no definition, no raIe madel. But we still expect scbaals ta teacb aur cbildren behaviaur. (Sit still; don't talk, be on tume; work bard; abey.> That, of course, is nat iearning. That is condiioning, the type you seek for.your dog when you send him ta obedience schaol. Second, if we insist that schools teach bebaviaur, then anything that achieves that end must be terrific. With this in mi, our schools are run like smali penai colonies. We bave buzzers and belîs and straps (yes, corporal punishinent us still legal in aur eiementary and high sehools. Dan't give my any crap about it neyer being used. If we were serions about teacbing children that violence neyer salves anything, then we would abaîish the strap) We bave given up lashes in prisons. But in the province of On- tario, we feel that the classroom would dissolve inta chaos if the threat of the strap disappeared. Recently, the power of the schaol principal bas been debated publicly. In high schaols, for instance, daes the principal bave the right ta search a student's 1l'ocker for drugs? Neyer mind the answer - which is, yes, according ta the Supreme Court - but the fact that we have ta ask the question shows that we view aur higb schoals as prison ghettoes. Dan't biame the teachers for this. Look at the raie modeis we give aur children. Name same of the heroes we throw befare them: Mr. T., the Dukes of Hazzard, wrestlers, Rambo, bum-cbewing, arse- scratching hulks who can throw basebaîl at 160 kîlometres an hour, toatbless hockey veterans who fight and defy rules a t the drap of a puck. Add your own ta the list. Every time the public becomes angered by the state of aur scbaols (wbich fortunately is nat often) the heat goes on. Ratepayers get ta elected officiais, wbo get ta board administrators, (wha shauld know better) who get ta teachers, and the beat goes on. Samething wrang in the classroom? "Kick a few ar- ses, knock a few beads tagether, get taugh, get back ta the basics. " Heard it ail before? Sure. It's ail part of thesiege mentality. Given this background, the wonder of the century is how do we keep Sa many gaad teachers in aur scbools? This even more surprising when you con- sider the social statns we confer an teachers. Ask people about teachers and know wbat most wili mention flrst? The long summer holidays. Neyer mind the upgrading courses; the long evenings grading papers; the "volunteer" work in elemen- tary and high scboois: the public envies that vacation and ain't gonna let you fargetItL You want Jobnny or Susan ta get the most out of schooi? Set aside an apprapriate time each night. Then sit down with hlm/ber and go aver the hamewark. Tell yaur kids haw math and reading are put tagether in every day living. Show your kids yaur mortgage, the vacuum cleaner warranty, the assembly ins;ructions of Swedish furniture. Talk about your favorite novel. See the teacher. Praise him/her for the littie touches she/he may have added ta your child's life. Remember, teachers sametimes go 20 years before a student returns ta say, 'il always remnember...'. Often a teacher bas suffered terminal burnout before the first piece of positive reinfarcement reaches him. Remember. Yaur child will love learning the way yau lave learning; will likely bate school the way yau bated school. Nothing the teacher can do wil change that. Like it or flot, tbat's your job as a parent.