Wednesday, August 29, 2007 - Page updated at 02:06 AM
E-mail article
Print view Share:
Digg
Newsvine
UW professor gets probation and fine
Seattle Times staff reporter
A University of Washington pharmacology professor who dumped a flammable substance down a laboratory sink to avoid the $15,000 disposal cost was sentenced to probation Tuesday in federal court.
Daniel Storm, 62, pleaded guilty in March in U.S. District Court to violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by dumping about 4 liters of the solvent ethyl ether, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Storm was sentenced to three years of probation, 80 hours of community service and a $5,000 fine.
Storm, who has been with the university nearly 30 years and continues to work there, has called what he did "a stupid mistake."
On June 25, 2006, Storm used an ax to break open metal containers to dump the ethyl ether down a sink in his laboratory, plea paperwork said. Using an ax to break open the containers was dangerous, because of the possibility that a spark could have ignited the fumes. He kept one container intact.
According to the plea agreement, Storm didn't want to pay the estimated $15,000 disposal cost, which would have come out of a lab-operations fund.
Half of the $5,000 fine that Storm pays will go to the Puget Sound Marine Conservation Fund, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Information previously reported in The Seattle Times is contained in this report.
Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

Best Northwest Employers
Vote for your favorite Northwest employers in the 2008 NWjobs People's Picks contest. Vote now.
Dog bite victims suffer long after attack
WSU provost to return as professor — at $245,000 per year
AG's office clarifies comments regarding BIAW-Rossi lawsuit
Danny Westneat: Unwanted subdivisions are our modern-day ghost towns
Woman charged with bringing in women to work as prostitutes
- Questions linger after WSU Provost Steven Hoch leaves
- Kennewick reservist faces threats over landscaping
- Fired official asked Palin about her car-seat use with son Trig
- Sarah Palin and the mean wink | Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist
- UW Football | Program woes hinder recruiting
- Christine Gregoire: Smart, intense and struggling to woo voters
- Episcopal priest given ultimatum
- Ore. woman pleads guilty to animal neglect, dies
- Wall Street closes mixed in wild session
- The first 100-mpg car
- Questions linger after WSU Provost Steven Hoch leaves
- Sarah Palin and the mean wink | Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist
- Episcopal priest given ultimatum
- There's nothing wonderful about the nation's mortgage crisis | Guest columnist
- Sarah Palin's definition of patriotism taxes credibility | Thomas Friedman / Syndicated Columnist
- Poring over neighborhood wine bars | Nancy Leson | Restaurants
- Kennewick reservist faces threats over landscaping
- Paradise rediscovered — new Mount Rainier visitor center opening today
- Christine Gregoire: Smart, intense and struggling to woo voters
- Brunswick to shutter Arlington yacht plant, 800 to lose jobs