Institute: Office of the Director (OD)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently recognized NIH for its commitment to recycling, reducing mercury, and remediating hazardous substances during a major demolition project.

EPA also commended NIH for being the first federal facility in Maryland to join its National Partnership for Environmental Priorities program, which strives to reduce the use or release of 31 chemicals, including mercury, beyond regulatory requirements. Mercury, a liquid metal, is a toxic, persistent pollutant that evaporates, passes from the atmosphere into the water shed, and then accumulates in the food chain.

As part of the pilot deconstruction project of Building 36, NIH achieved these green goals:

• Removed and recycled more than 14,000 mercury-containing fluorescent lamps.
  
  
• Removed and recovered more than 2,800 pounds of mercury-containing debris and other waste.
  
  
• Removed and recovered 22,000 pounds of ballast materials, some of which contained PCBs.
  
  
• Recycled more than 5,800 tons of non-hazardous debris, such as concrete and scrap metal.

Next Steps
You can learn more about NIH’s Division of Environmental Protection at http://orf.od.nih.gov/AboutORF/Organization/dep_info.htm.