CSS employee owners provide on-site support to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Hazardous Waste Program at several campuses around the country: Atlanta, Georgia, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Fort Collins, Colorado. With 22 years of experience, CSS staff are responsible for providing training to laboratory and facilities staff to ensure safe handling of hazardous waste to avoid harmful incidents. 

CSS staff provide regular training to CDC staff on topics, including hazardous waste management, using the online waste ticketing system, and spill training. This training covers common mistakes (e.g. improper placement of labels), safety issues (e.g. not including biological materials, improper storage and containment, leaks, and classification), and handling special waste, such as crystalized waste (which can be unstable and possibly explosive). 

Additionally, CSS staff provide universal waste training to CDC staff on an as-needed basis.

Shelf of recyclables/surplus materials with a label sitting on top.
CSS trains CDC staff on common mistakes and the correct storage methods for satellite accumulation areas.
large bottle in a tub covered with white, crusty material.
CSS trains CDC staff on handling special waste, which may be unstable. 

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large jar of crystalized substance

Training Staff for Handling Hazardous Waste and Responding to Chemical Spills

CSS employee owners provide on-site support to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Hazardous Waste Program at several campuses around the country: Atlanta, Georgia, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Fort Collins, Colorado. With 22 years of experience, CSS staff are responsible for providing training to laboratory and facilities staff to ensure safe handling of hazardous waste to avoid harmful…

Several mobile lab units in a parking lot

Continued Analysis of Contaminants from East Palestine Train Derailment

In February 2023, a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio spilling chemicals that contaminated surrounding soil, water, and the air. Several Portable High-throughput Integrated Laboratory Identification Systems (PHILIS) – the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) suite of mobile laboratories designed to provide on-site analysis of chemical agents – and staff were mobilized to the site following the accident to conduct analysis of various contaminated media. The CSS…

NG-23 rocket launched

Preparing and Delivering Samples for Travel to the International Space Station

CSS employee owners on contract with NASA delivered six newly prepared Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules (SUBSA)—a high temperature furnace with temperature and timing control for melting samples to create different materials and alloys—samples for the NG-23 launch, which took place on September 14, 2025. On this mission, samples are being delivered for…