We found that the local government entity officials are aware of the hazardous content in computer equipment and they have taken steps to dispose of the equipment in an environmentally safe manner. While each of the four entities recycles computer equipment, there are differences. For example, the Herkimer County Community College uses a local waste authority, which is a permitted household hazardous waste facility, for disposal of its computer equipment. Madison County operates its own solid waste department that collects both unneeded County-owned computer equipment as well as residential e-waste. Madison County, the OCM BOCES and Jamesville DeWitt Central School District dispose of unneeded computer equipment with a commercial recycler. We found the commercial recycler used by these entities was listed on the DEC web site as a “c7” notified recycler. Computer Equipment Disposal in Central NY[complete audit - pdf]

Internal Controls Over Purchasing, Claims Auditing and Separation Payments
The Board has not designed an internal control system for the audit and approval of claims. We reviewed 202 payments totaling $1,620,995 made to 117 vendors and found no indication that the Board had audited and approved any of the claims. Claims also lacked adequate documentation to show that the purchases were valid and necessary College expenditures. College officials also did not always seek competitive bids for purchases of $10,000 or more, as required by College policy and General Municipal Law. Finally, controls over retirement incentive payments also need to be improved. We tested the retirement incentive payments totaling $429,696 that the College made to all 14 faculty members who retired during our audit period and found that the College overpaid two employees by a total of $44,379. Rockland County Community College[complete audit - pdf]

The selected entities generally disposed of e-waste in an environmentally safe manner. During the period of our examination, the four entities collectively owned approximately 4,200 computer work stations and recycled 1,237 computer monitors and CPUs. Because this computer equipment was properly recycled, we estimate that the following hazardous materials did not enter the environment — approximately 1,406 pounds of lead and 37 pounds of mercury. In addition, we estimate that the recycling companies could have potentially recovered the following valuable materials — approximately 1,554 pounds of copper, 37 pounds of gold, and 3,146 pounds of aluminum. Computer Equipment Disposal[complete audit - pdf]