Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine, in cooperation with the State University Construction Fund, is in the process of completing construction and final testing for the first phase of a University Waste Management Facility project that features installation of an alkaline hydrolysis system.

In testing Feb. 19, the facility's staff began loading wastewater from the facility to a contracted wastewater hauler's tanker truck, scheduled to deliver the waste to a permitted municipal wastewater treatment plant. A system malfunction during the process resulted in a discharge of the wastewater to a sanitary sewer, by way of a connection that had been designed into the system for emergency discharge purposes. As a result, a total of approximately 4,300 gallons of the wastewater was discharged to the Ithaca Area Waste Water Treatment Facility (IAWWTF). The wastewater was neither infectious nor hazardous and had a pH within the sewer-use ordinance limits.

As soon as the accidental discharge was discovered, the facility staff stopped the discharge pumps and changed valve settings to prevent further discharge. The facility manager immediately telephoned the IAWWTF and contacted city of Ithaca officials to report the discharge.

The staff is currently working with the State University Construction Fund and the project's engineers and contractors to identify long-term corrective actions, which will be implemented prior to placing the system online. Those corrective actions will be shared with the IAWWTF and the city of Ithaca.

The alkaline hydrolysis system will be replacing the university's use of incineration for animal carcass disposal.