The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has fined the University of Oregon $21,900 for hazardous waste violations stemming from a renovation at its Eugene campus in January 2024.
The Heritage Renovation project involved restoring Villard Hall and University Hall, two of the oldest surviving academic buildings in Oregon, at a cost of about $96 million. The site is one of 17 National Historic Landmarks in the state.
The project generated lead-containing hazardous waste, DEQ said in its enforcement order. The university failed to conduct an accurate hazardous waste determination on two waste streams, failed to properly label containers of hazardous wash water and offered waste for transport by a subcontractor without a hazardous waste manifest…