Medical Waste Bill Clears Committee
The HHS Committee passed the medical waste incinertor bill with no opposition today (11-4-02)! In fact, there was no one present to speak against the bill at all. We also gained a few more co-sponsors: Florida (15), Bauer (24), and Carter (27). The bill goes to the Floor of the Board of Aldermen Friday for a second reading. And then the bill will be read again (3rd time) for Perfection probably on the 15th where it will (hopefully!) be passed by the full Board of Aldermen. We'd love to have all 28 aldermen vote FOR the bill, so call your alderman today at 622-3287 and tell them to SUPPORT BOARD BILL #279.
Please don't take this for granted! We need the support of the full Board of Aldermen to pass it.
Special thanks for everyone who has helped!
And on the rumor circuit: Stericycle may be announcing today that it will close the incinerator altogether. When I get solid confirmation, I'll let you know. It's still heresay.
NEWS ALERT
September 13, 2002
Contact: Kathleen Logan Smith, Organizer (314) 892-6120
Activists Condemn Reversal on Asphalt Plant
Blame Mayor Slay for Weakening Regulation
Polluter denied permit. Regulator Removed. Polluter granted permit
(ST. LOUIS)-- Activists say a silent shake-up in the city’s air pollution program has effectively dismantled the office of Air Pollution Control and has lead to the permitting of an asphalt plant in north St. Louis rejected earlier in the spring. Members of the Medical Waste Incinerator Group (MWIG), a citizens’ organization fighting an incinerator, held a news conference today to condemn the city for granting Nu-Road Systems LLC a permit to build an asphalt plant in north St. Louis after denying the permit in April.
“This area of the city has the highest rate of asthma in the region,” said Daniel Berg, MD, founder of MWIG. “This plant will make everything worse.”
The plant will dump tons of additional pollution into the air including toxic chemicals like benzene, xylene, formaldehyde and arsenic. The City Air Pollution Control (APC) office denied the permit in April citing concerns about increases in particulate air pollution in an area where city monitors detect high levels already. A month later, in May, the position of APC Commissioner Timothy Dee was dissolved and the APC office was folded into the Health Dept., an agency notorious for its problems. (Most recently the Health Dept. lost millions of federal funding for AIDS programs). In late August, the APC office secretively reversed its earlier decision and granted a permit for the asphalt plant without holding a public hearing. Second ward Alderwoman Dionne Flowers was never notified, although she has a request on record for a hearing. A hearing was never held on the permit granted in August.
“The Air Pollution Control office was gutted as soon as it took a stand for public health,” said MWIG Executive Director Kathleen Logan Smith. “Then the re-organized APC failed to hold a hearing on a polluter’s permit and excluded the public from the decision making. If this is a sign of how business in the new APC will be conducted, it’s time to make a U-turn.”
The APC also disregarded second ward Alderwoman Flowers request for a hearing on the plant and decided to put her constituents at risk without her knowledge, Berg said.
MWIG members are demanding that the City:
§ Restore the independence of the APC office, including the position of APC Commissioner
§ Revoke the Nu-Road construction permit
§ Hold a public hearing if an application for another permit is submitted.
NEWS
JULY 11, 2002 Kathleen Logan Smith, Organizer (314) 892-6120
Toxic ‘Racial Profiling’ Must End
Protestors Ask BJC to Pledge Not to Burn
(ST. LOUIS – MO) Opponents of medical waste incineration are calling on an area healthcare giant to commit to ending incineration of its waste. Protestors gathered during rush hour Thursday in front of the corporate headquarters of BJC Health Systems to pressure the health care giant to stop sending its medical waste to north St. Louis to be burned. Supporters of the Medical Waste Incinerator Group (MWIG) say that north St. Louis residents bear more than their share of the pollution from the region’s health care providers from emissions from an incinerator there. The incinerator, owned by Stericycle Inc., typically burns 30,000 pounds of waste from Missouri and surrounding states every day.
“Incinerating waste in north St. Louis is racial profiling for pollution,” said Mattie Moore, 2nd Ward Committeewoman. “The county doesn’t have an incinerator – their waste comes here.” MWIG is asking BJC to sign a pledge committing to ending incineration of medical waste and to implementing waste reduction plans in their facilities, including finding safe substitutes for PVC and mercury-containing products.
“We’re simply asking BJC to follow in the footsteps of Washington University Medical School and handle their waste in a way that doesn’t poison the air of city residents,” said Dr. Lee Blount Jr., MD, MWIG supporter and wellness, fitness consultant. “As deliverers of health care, BJC should be promoting preventive health care, not contributing to health problems from air pollution. Burning waste is incompatible with a healing mission.”
“There is a particular need for preventive health care within St. Louis. With so many diseases related to air pollution, our healthcare providers should be part of the solution, not part of the problem,” Blount said.
Incineration releases a variety of pollutants into the air, including mercury and dioxin. The Environmental Protection Agency ranks medical waste incinerators as the second highest source of mercury emissions in the United States and the number three source of dioxin. Mercury affects the nervous system and is especially toxic to developing fetuses and young children. Dioxins at very low doses are correlated with heart disease, cancer, diabetes, endometriosis, and developmental delays. Dioxin builds up and concentrates in fat, including breast milk.
Medical waste contributes to the formation of dioxins through chlorinated plastics, principally PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride), which is the major source of the chlorine contributed for dioxin generation in incinerators. Mercury from medical waste is primarily derived from inappropriately disposed thermometers, blood pressure gauges, batteries and fluorescent lamps.
Stericycle Inc., the nation’s largest medical waste treatment company, now offers a non-incineration technology at their St. Louis location, making the move to less polluting technologies easier for healthcare providers.
NOTE: MWIG has made repeated efforts to open a dialogue with BJC on the issue of waste reduction and management. BJC has continually failed to respond to our proposals for dialogue.
March 14, 2002 Certified Letter to John Allman, Env. Engineer, BJC Health System
March- April, 2002 Phone Calls to John Allman, Env. Engineer, BJC Health System
May 22, 2002 – Email to John Allman, Env. Engineer, BJC Health System
July 2, 2002 -Office Visit to John Allman, Env. Engineer, BJC Health System
July 2, 2002 -Hand Delivered Letter to John Allman, Env. Engineer, BJC Health System
JULY 22, 2002 Contact: Kathleen Logan Smith, Organizer (314) 892-6120
2nd Protest Cancelled, Dialogue to Begin
Protestors Ask BJC to Pledge Not to Burn
(ST. LOUIS – MO) Opponents of medical waste incineration called off a July 23rd protest in favor of dialogue. The Medical Waste Incinerator Group (MWIG) had been seeking a meeting with BJC Health Systems to ask the healthcare giant to commit to ending incineration of its waste. MWIG protested at BJC headquarters July 11th and had scheduled a follow-up protest because BJC had been unresponsive to repeated requests for a meeting since March. MWIG members want BJC to stop sending its medical waste to north St. Louis to be burned and to sign a Pledge Not to Burn.
“The Pledge Not to Burn is a good neighbor agreement,” said Kathleen Logan Smith, MWIG organizer. “We hope this dialogue will lead to community-friendly waste management practices and end the cycle of health care contributing to sickness.”
MWIG is asking BJC to sign a pledge committing to ending incineration of medical waste and to implementing waste reduction plans in their facilities, including finding safe substitutes for PVC and mercury-containing products.
Incineration releases a variety of pollutants into the air, including mercury and dioxin. The Environmental Protection Agency ranks medical waste incinerators as the second highest source of mercury emissions in the United States and the number three source of dioxin. Mercury affects the nervous system and is especially toxic to developing fetuses and young children. Dioxins at very low doses are correlated with heart disease, cancer, diabetes, endometriosis, and developmental delays. Dioxin builds up and concentrates in fat, including breast milk.
Medical waste contributes to the formation of dioxins through chlorinated plastics, principally PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride), which is the major source of the chlorine contributed for dioxin generation in incinerators. Mercury from medical waste is primarily derived from inappropriately disposed thermometers, blood pressure gauges, batteries and fluorescent lamps.
Stericycle Inc., the nation’s largest medical waste treatment company, now offers a non-incineration technology at their St. Louis location, making the move to less polluting technologies easier for healthcare providers. Stericycle typically burns 30,000 pounds of waste daily in their incinerator in north St. Louis.
