St. Elizabeth Hospital in Belleville, Ill., has been fined $10,000 by the state for alleged improper hazardous waste storage and other violations, according to a Belleville News-Democrat report.
In 2011, state officials notified the hospital of several alleged violations, including 178 unlabeled bottles of biomedical solvents in the hospital's hazardous waste cage and the lack of an emergency plan if a fire or other event released the hazardous waste, according to the report.
Hospital officials agreed to the fine in a Nov. 26 settlement. As part of the settlement, St. Elizabeth Hospital has neither admitted to nor denied the allegations and has corrected the alleged violations, according to the report.
"At no time did the storage of these materials pose a risk to patients, colleagues or the general public," Jim Krohn, a hospital spokesman, said in the report. "Once we learned of the compliance issues, we immediately worked with state officials to address the matter so that our storage process was in compliance with regulations. We appreciate the state's willingness to work with us in providing greater clarity on the regulations in question and develop a remediation plan."
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