Web Site Analytics
MobileRJ | RSS Twitter Twitter FacebookFacebook E-mail Alerts
Home subscribe manage Las Vegas Review-Journal
  Jobs Cars Homes Shopping Travel Weddings Golf Best of Las Vegas Photo   Search:

RECENT EDITIONS
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

Opinion
Jul. 23, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

EDITORIAL: OSHA puts a chill on UNR plan

Agency bureaucrats ignore common sense

How do you know when you've got too many regulatory bureaucrats?

When their devotion to the letter of "the code" starts getting in the way of common sense.

Most Popular Stories
  • LETTERS: Casinos learn gamblers want the human touch
  • EDITORIAL: Reverse discrimination
  • GLENN COOK: Hypocrites! Hypocrites! Hypocrites!
  • LETTERS: Reid's hometown rejects wind power? Oh my!
  • LETTERS: Berkley, Titus support witches' brew of taxation
  • EDITORIAL: Turn out the lights ...
  • EDITORIAL: Confronting witnesses
  • FROM OUR READERS: In the dark about the new light bulbs
  • Springs Preserve a positive for Las Vegas
  • EDITORIAL: Pricing probe




    • Some would argue there are agencies which reach that point the first week they open their doors. But there can no longer be much doubt the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has crossed the line.

    This agency has ruled it causes workers in a cookie factory too much strain to pick up the tops of the sandwich cookies and place them atop the bottom halves. It's ruled one of the ingredients used in the manufacture of bricks is so potentially toxic it must be stored in a special shed with all kinds of complicated warnings and procedures to handle this toxic material, known to most of us as ... sand.

    And now there's the case of the condensation water from the air conditioner of the new Joe Crowley Student Union at the University of Nevada, Reno.

    Cooler air won't hold as much water as warm air. That's why virtually all air conditioners drip.

    The huge industrial air conditioner for the new UNR facility condenses some 600,000 gallons of water per year out of the air. Since the facility opened last fall, that water has gone down the drain, wasted.

    The UNR Division of Environmental Health and Safety University had a better idea. Why not collect that water and pump it outside the building, where it could be used to drip-irrigate the building's outdoor landscaping?

    It cost about $60,000 to put in a cistern to collect the condensation from water towers used in the air conditioning system and for the pump to circulate the water through drip lines to planters outside the student union, said John Walsh, student union construction project manager.

    The pump -- a "tiny little thing" about the size of a beer keg -- went into the "chiller room" that houses the air conditioner. Because that air conditioner contains a refrigerant that could be toxic if it leaked, the room is ventilated and equipped with leak detectors. University officials checked with the state Public Works Board to make sure there would be no problem with the plan. The Public Works Board checked the rules of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which merely bar "nonessential equipment" in the chiller room -- equipment not related to heating and cooling. Doing something with the 600,000 gallons of water the unit produced seemed pretty "essential," so the state board OK'd the plan.

    At which point OSHA turned it down. The federal agency ordered the air conditioner couldn't be turned on, at all, till the pump was removed. And it's July. Even in Reno, it's starting to get a little warm. So the university complied.

    The pump is gone; all the water is going back down the drain.

    The state Public Works Board "approved the pump to be in the room and cited the same code that OSHA cited to make us remove it," explains Mr. Walsh. "They both ruled opposite ways."

    Buzz Nelson, head of facilities services, said the university is seeking OSHA approval to connect piping to the cistern and use gravity to feed the irrigation system.

    "Whether that will work or not, we don't know," he said. "We'll just have to see. ... If not, we'll see if we can add a pump back into the system, but it will have to be somewhere outside the cooler room. ..."

    The pumping plan had symbolic significance, explains John Sagebiel, UNR manager of environmental affairs. "We need to be sending the community and our students a message about how we need to be living, and this pump is one example of how we could do that better."

    But perhaps the affair of the student union water pump has taught students at UNR an even more important lesson -- what happens when you have too many regulatory bureaucrats, justifying their jobs by placing devotion to the letter of "the code" ahead of common sense.

    Newsvine Digg Fark Technorati reddit StumbleUpon del.icio.us Slashdot Propeller Mixx Furl Twitter MySpace Facebook Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Bookmarks Windows Live Favorites Ask MyStuff myAOL Favorites

    Leave Your Comment 15 Reader Comments
    Terms & Conditions
    The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The reviewjournal.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor.

    Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
    Current Word Count:

    Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

    Juan Dough wrote on July 24, 2008 02:23 PM: Editor Puts the “Big Chill” on Bureaucrats

    Review Journal Stirs Fury, Ignores Facts

    How do you know when you've got too many newspaper editors trying to make controversy where the only disagreement is between the informed and the uninformed?

    When their devotion to sensationalism starts getting in the way of their ethics.

    This reads like one of those “urban myth” chain e-mails that turn up on Snopes.com as FALSE.

    Can you believe that workers at a cookie factory who make the same motions over, and over, and over, can suffer from repetitive motion injuries ? Yes, it’s called “cumulative trauma”. Google “ergonomics” for more facts..

    Can you believe that workers who are exposed to dust and particulate from ordinary sand need to be protected ? Yes, it’s called silicosis. It’s common in sandblasting, quarries, or gold/silver mines. Google “Delmar Nevada” to see why it was “The Widow Maker” .

    Can you believe the bureaucrats won’t let the UNR put a water pump in the air-conditioning chiller room at the new student union ? Yes, it creates a potential hazard in a system that provides air for humans to breathe. All they had to do was put the pump on the other side of the wall. UNR should sue their architects, the general contractor, or whoever “checked” on the this plan.

    Using the water to irrigate plants is good, but note, DJ2 lets pets and birds drink condensate water. Holy $#!%* !

    It’s hard to sell papers these days, but whipping up a frenzy over issues like this is unethical. Damn the economic pressures. If you have to stoop to unethical practices to sell papers, fold up shop and start a blogsite.


    Patrick wrote on July 24, 2008 05:14 AM: Yellow journalism comes to mind.
    This bombastic editorial with half truths and innuendos is a insult to journalism.


    Genius wrote on July 23, 2008 07:06 PM: Thanks, I had a great laugh at all this nonsense! Talk about dumb and dumber.


    Sad Summerlin wrote on July 23, 2008 05:41 PM: Lisa needs to re-read the article when she is not angry at the Review Journal and her judgment is clouded.

    And Virga, what is wrong with our administrators setting an example for our students in recycling and living a more environmentally conscience life. Would you prefer they just preach conservation, global warming, catastrophe and then do nothing themselves for an example? That would make them Al Gore.

    (The Gore part was a joke folks, chill out - pun intended).

    This opinion reflects a very good point that we should all take to heart:

    No matter how hard you try to satisfy one group (conservationists), there's always someone (bureaucrats) that will find a way to get in your way.


    TimeRanger wrote on July 23, 2008 02:04 PM: Failed Comprehension-101 eh Lisa??


    lisaS wrote on July 23, 2008 12:47 PM: Lisa

    The cookies can now be machine made, which will hurt the company brand by making it illegal to make them by hand, and the ex employees will still get carpel tunnel picking up the unemployment checks. We do not need big brother holding us back


    dennis1944 wrote on July 23, 2008 12:20 PM: This is what we get when we let politicians invent new agencies and appoint their buddies to run them making up new "rules" as they go along. Politicians are much too ignorant to do anything right, but we keep stupidly electing them.


    Warren wrote on July 23, 2008 12:16 PM: As an engineer with long term exprience I would have suggested using a well pump or sump pump in the cistern with the correct controls. I have a bit of hesitation on piping the overflow and bled line from the cooling towers due to the fact I do not know what chemical treatment the condenser water is using. But of course there is the way that worked from 1950 forward to the mid 90's and the there is the government way


    Pete wrote on July 23, 2008 12:00 PM: Lisa, if you re-read the story, they DID NOT say bricks had to be stored in a special shed.


    Virga wrote on July 23, 2008 10:13 AM: "We need to be sending the community and our students a message about how we need to be living, and this pump is one example of how we could do that better."

    John Sagebiel,when was he elected to show us how to live? By who? I do not recall his name on any ballot.


    Read All Comments