ONE OF the country's leading institutes of technology was yesterday fined €2,000 and ordered to pay €2,800 in expenses and costs after it pleaded guilty to a breach of the Waste Management Act 1996 relating to the disposal of empty blood bags containing blood residue.
Cork County Council prosecuted Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) for breaches of section 32.2 and section 32.6 of the waste management Act when it failed to transfer control of waste to a person other than an appropriate person on May 11th, 2007.
The solicitor for Cork County Council, Kevin O'Leary, told Cork District Court that CIT received some 11 bags of blood from the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) for use by students on a biodmedical degree course.
The blood was used by the students in the course of their work but because an incinerator at the institute was broken at the time, an employee took the empty bags containing some residue to his home in Cork to incinerate them in a barrel in his garden.
The court heard, however, that not all of the bags were properly destroyed and a number of the bags were taken by a dog and left on the lawn of a neighbour who contacted the litter warden of Cork County Council who launched an investigation. Mr O'Leary told the court that as a result of the rigorous procedures operated by the IBTS, the council was able to trace the bags of blood to CIT.
The blood had been tested by IBTS and was negative for any infectious diseases, he said.
Solicitor for CIT Sion Williams told the court that the college obtained some 11 packs of blood a year for student work and after the blood is used, the packs are usually put through an autoclave at high temperatures which converts controlled waste into normal waste.
However, the autoclave system had broken down at the time and an employee of the institute had taken the materials to destroy them at his home.
Mr Williams said that the college deeply regretted the incident and acknowledged that it was a serious breach of the waste management regulations. The college wished to apologise to the court and the council for the difficulties it had caused by the breakdown in its procedure. Mr Williams pointed out that CIT had co-operated fully with the investigation and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, and new protocols were already in place governing the disposal of such waste.
Judge David Riordan said that the provision of live material by the IBTS to the college for student training was an important matter and it would be regrettable if the benefits of that were to be lost when it came to the teaching of students at CIT. He noted the early plea and the fact that the institute had carried out a review of procedures and put in place new protocols but it was important that there be a deterrent to prevent any repeat at CIT or any other institution using blood products.
Describing CIT as "an excellent institution with an excellent reputation which has developed wonderful things for this city over the past 35 years", Judge Riordan fined CIT €2,000 and ordered it to pay €2,600 expenses and €200 in costs to Cork County Council.
