Senator Lt. Col. David Burch welcomed a school report that examined legislation regarding waste oil disposal.

The S4 science class at Berkeley Institute presented Sen. Burch with a copy of the report they compiled on Thursday. The students called every service station and garage in Bermuda to discuss their methods and practices for the disposal of waste oil. Tiffany Bean, A.J. Talbot and Barry Walkes completed the project in their advanced environmental science course.

Larger garages and service stations are required to have designated containers that are collected by the Ministry of Works and Engineering to be disposed of at the Tynes Bay location. The report found that every service station on the Island is meeting the requirements for waste oil disposal.

Smaller service stations and garages are not required to have special containers on site, though the Minister said it was something he will have to look into based on the findings and recommendations of the report.

?We generate a significant amount of waste. The Ministry does monitor and check the waste oil disposal at the service stations to enforce the legislation.

?This project is great, especially for people in the Ministry, because the students were able to confirm that the procedures are being followed. It?s wonderful that Berkeley is doing things that are beneficial to the whole community.

?From a recycling and conservation point of view, we are trying to be environmentally conscious.?

He added that Bermuda as a whole needs to be more concerned about the environment and the amount of waste produced every year.

Sen. Burch said that his ministries are trying to find ways to conserve and reduce the amount of waste they produce in the office.

David Chapman, the teacher who organised the project, said it was the first time his students have looked at the topic.

He added that he tries to incorporate local issues into the curriculum because it makes more of an impact on student.

The students agreed that adding local examples and topics in the curriculum makes it more personal and memorable.

The course, as well as the marine science course offered at the high school, is also providing Bermuda with environmentalists that could help dictate polices in the future.