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Medical Waste Incinerators in
North Carolina
There
are two companies in North Carolina operating medical waste
incinerators which bring in waste from 22 states on the East Coast.
Stericyle has a plant in Alamance County, and BMWNC operates in
Mecklenburg County. While both companies have autoclave facilities in
the state, they are largely unused. (Autoclaving avoids toxic releases
into the atmosphere.) Both companies burn waste 24 hours a day, 365
days a year. Following Title 5 hearings early in 2010, both permits are
currently on hold. The companies have been given 4 years by the EPA to
comply with new regulations, but NC activists are pressing for early
implementation within 2 years.
Under new guidelines announced in October 2009 by the EPA, medical
waste incinerators would be required to severely limit toxic emissions
such as mercury and dioxin by large amounts, in some cases above 90%.
Of 57 incinerators currently operating in the United States, seven are
already in compliance with the new stricter 2014 rules. Other
incinerator operators have until October 2014 to come into compliance.
However the technology to do so exists today. (There is no requirement
in North Carolina for autoclaving to be preferred to burning.) Also
both incinerators in North Carolina are within a few hundred yards of
community colleges. These potentially put many young students at
unnecessary risk of developing future health problems.
The reason for newer limits on emissions derives from scientific
evaluation by the EPA that many of the gases and metals released by
burning medical waste result in serious health consequences which can
range from cancer to respiratory illnesses. In particular young
children and the elderly are at greater risk; mercury is among the
metals released and is of particular concern to pregnant women and
infants in their early development stages.
Groups of
concerned citizens in both communities have recently formed local
chapters of BREDL (Blue Ridge Environment League). Having convinced the
Mecklenburg County Commission to vote unanimously on a proposal to
require early implementation of the EPA rules, several more NC counties
have endorsed this resolution, and a hearing by NC Environmental
Management Commission will determine if 2012 is set as a date for
compliance as opposed to the federal requirement of 2014. This hearing
takes place in Greensboro on September 7th. For more details email Alan Burns.
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