Training Municipal Employees in Hazardous‐Waste Issues

Municipal governments are becoming involved in hazardous‐waste issues that have in the past been addressed primarily at the state and national level. Often, the expertise and protocols have not yet fully developed at this level to provide an appropriate response to these problems. Unfortunately, the nature of the hazardous‐waste problem is such that without immediate response the problems often become exponentially harder to deal with. Many urban universities now have specialized expertise in hazardous‐waste management and spill response. This situation provides an excellent opportunity for the urban university to interact with the local municipality. Although this interaction can take many forms, the one examined in the paper involves a half‐day training session in hazardous‐waste recognition and response. Over 400 personnel from various departments in the City of Detroit registered for the sessions. Although the personnel had widely ranging educational and professional backgrounds, a curriculum and format was developed that provided useful information to all participants.