CSS supports several Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) campuses throughout the U.S. On-site CSS personnel are trained in hazardous material spill response and clean-up and provide this support within buildings and throughout campuses. As part of our contract with the CDC Hazardous Waste Program, CSS hazmat-trained employee owners are responsible for safely collecting, storing, and shipping hazardous and universal waste, as well as training laboratorians in spill control procedures, universal waste, and the Center for Disease Control’s online waste ticketing system. 

A recent automobile collision on the CDC Atlanta campus caused battery acid, oil, transmission fluid, windshield wiper fluid, and antifreeze to spill into the roadway. Following the scene being secured by first responders, CSS hazmat-trained staff responded to and cleaned up the hazardous material to prevent further contamination. They used absorbent pads specifically designed for use in hazmat clean-up, and universal absorbent pillows to prevent chemicals from spreading and running into storm drains. 

Cones line a cross walk where absorbent pads cover a spill.
CSS staff use absorbent pads to clean up hazardous automobile fluids.
A cross walk with cones marking a clean-up area. Absorbent pads and pillows cover a storm drain.
Staff barricade storm drains with absorbent pads and weighted pillows to prevent hazardous fluids from flowing into drains.

See More CSS Insights

tractor trailers stationed in a parking lot

Emergency Response Support for the Republican National Convention

CSS employee owners on contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Portable High-throughput Integrated Laboratory Identification System — a mobile analytical unit known as PHILIS — provided emergency response support for the 2024 Republican National Convention. PHILIS mobile laboratory units are designed to provide onsite analysis of environmental conditions, including air and soil samples, contaminated…

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…

Ensuring Safety and Support for Sample Testing on the International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) gives scientists the opportunity to study the effects of space travel on human and plant tissues as well as understand how physical materials react during formation or exposure to a microgravity environment. CSS provides integrative expertise to NASA to support research and development and technology demonstrations conducted on the ISS,…