Schneider Regional Hospital has until Oct. 12 to correct violations from the outdoor packing and storing of infectious medical waste, according to officials from the Department of Planning and Natural Resources' Environment Protection division.
The DPNR said storage situation has has exposed the biohazardous waste to dangerously high temperatures and generated a risk to workers and the public.
According to a story in the Virgin Islands Daily News, DPNR inspectors made an unannounced inspection of the medical waste storage areas at Schneider and on Oct. 2 the agency issued an order of non-compliance to the hospital because of its failure to follow proper standards and guidelines for storing infectious waste.
DPNR Commissioner Alicia Barnes said "it definitely merits looking into" whether the waste can get past the port on schedule, as U.S. Customs and Border Protection workers who process shipping forms may not be available to do so because of furloughs caused by the federal shutdown.
Since Schneider's vice president of facilities management disclosed that waste was being stored in intemperate conditions during a meeting of the governing board Sept. 25, hospital executives have issued multiple statements downplaying public risk and blaming the problem on temporary "shipping issues," particularly the loss of temporary trailers which, being unrefrigerated, also violated health and safety standards.
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