First, Do No Harm
The
Haw River Medical Waste Incinerator
© BREDL 2001
Louis Zeller
Medical waste
incinerators are the second largest known source
of dioxin in the United States. Health effects of
prolonged dioxin exposure include impairment of
immune, nervous and endocrine systems. Dioxin is
a known human carcinogen. In addition to dioxin,
toxic air pollutants from medical waste
incinerators include arsenic, chromium IV,
cadmium, lead, hydrochloric acid, and mercury.
Medical waste incinerators are even bigger
polluters than other types of waste burners;
North Carolina permits medical waste incinerators
to emit 60% more cadmium, 108% more dioxin, and
580% more mercury than solid waste incinerators.
Stericycle, Inc.
is a huge medical waste management company with
operations in The United States, Mexico, Canada,
Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Japan, and
Australia. The company headquarters are in Lake
Forest, Illinois. In a 1999 expansion, Stericycle
bought BFI Medical Waste, Inc. (part of Browning
Ferris Industries) and the medical waste
incinerator in Haw River, NC became a Stericycle
operation.. The Haw River medical waste
incinerator is one of the nation’s largest,
importing waste from many states.
Although many,
less harmful techniques exist which render
medical and infectious waste harmless, Stericycle
has steadily expanded its lucrative business. In
the first quarter of 2001, Stericycle reported a
37% annual increase in net income.
Incinerator
Neighbors See Smoke
January 15, 2001:
Sam Kiser, who lives in Haw River, complains to
the NC Division of Air Quality’s regional
office about black smoke coming from the
incinerator. He says he observed the smoke at
about nine o’clock in the evening. He adds
that the stacks emit smoke frequently. Rather
than going to the facility to check, the
inspector at DAQ calls Stericycle’s plant
manager on the phone. The manager faxes records
which reveal elevated carbon monoxide emissions
and a spike in scrubber pH at 9:15 PM on the 15th.
DAQ concludes that medical waste with a high
moisture content could have caused the increase
in visible emissions seen by Mr. Kiser. In his
report, the state inspector wrote, “Since
the emission occurred at night, it is
difficult…to categorize a visible emission,
and there is no real reason to believe the
incinerators were operating…in
violation.” Also, he cites stack tests
completed in October which showed that the
incinerator was operating within permitted
limits.
February 21, 2001:
Sam Kiser again sees black smoke coming from the
incinerator. This incident begins at 6:00 AM and
lasts for two hours. DAQ’s second
investigation-by-telephone determines it may have
been the “lighting conditions” on that
morning. No further action was taken.
Stericycle’s
Record Of Non-Compliance: Two Cases
Overloading the
Incinerator
Stericycle is
permitted to burn 1,911 pounds per hour in each
of the two units, a total of 33,480,720 pounds of
medical waste a year. Investigations by the Blue
Ridge Environmental Defense League show that the
company exceeded its allowable burn rate eight
times in a five months period during 2000.
Stericycle’s operators overloading waste by
as much as 11% over the maximum, oftentimes
between the hours of midnight and 7:00 AM.
In November 2000
the state recommended civil penalties for five
episodes of excess waste burning in the
incinerator. But Stericycle said the computer
system which recorded the weight violations was
only a “billing tool for accounting
purposes,” and that the hand written
operating logs recorded no excess weights. After
issuing a series of violations to Stericycle,
North Carolina’s Division of Air Quality,
which can levy fines of $10,000 per violation,
opted to let the company off the hook. No fines
were imposed.
Failed Stack Tests
Stericycle’s
must test its incinerators periodically to
demonstrate compliance with pollution limits. In
October 2000 Stericycle submitted test results
which indicated that state and federal standards
were met. But the Division of Air Quality
discovered “computational errors” in
the report filed by Stericycle which falsely
indicated compliance with the particulate matter
(PM) standard. The incinerator had actually
emitted PM 5.4% above the maximum. Each day of
operation over the limit makes the operator
subject to a civil penalty of $10,000 per day. In
February DAQ issued a notice of violation and
recommended enforcement.
In March
Stericycle employed the same testing firm, Custom
Stack Analysis, Inc., to repeat the PM emission
test and analysis. This time the results
indicated a PM emission rate in compliance with
state regulation. The DAQ, upon reviewing the
data, levied a fine of only $4,000.
The Blue Ridge
Environmental Defense League is asking for a
further, independent verification of the test
results at Stericycle. We question the validity
of emissions tests for dioxins and furans— two highly toxic products
of waste combustion. Medical waste incinerators
are known to emit high levels of dioxin, but the
October test results for dioxin were below
detection limits, virtually zero. Even one state
official remarked that non-detection of dioxin
was “surprising.”
Stericycle
Granted Two Year Delay for Pollution Reduction
In November 1999
the NC Division of Air Quality notified
Stericycle it was required to meet new state and
federal emission standards by July 2000. In
December Stericycle petitioned the state for a
two-year extension of the compliance deadline in
order to evaluate and install new pollution
control devices. The new regulation, adopted by
the NC Environmental Management Commission,
requires stricter limits on toxic air pollutants:
for example, mercury must be reduced by 85% and
visible emissions are limited to 10% opacity. The
DAQ approved Stericycle’s request. The US
EPA also granted an extension of the compliance
deadline, now set for September 15, 2002.
BREDL
Community Action Campaign
The state of North Carolina cannot at present
ensure that medical waste incinerators are
operated without threatening public health and
the environment. BREDL is working with our
members to end pollution from commercial medical
waste incineration in two North Carolina
communities: Matthews in Mecklenburg County and
Haw River in Alamance.
Our campaign made
two major advances in August. First, the NC
Division of Epidemiology met with the residents
to discuss their concerns. Dr. Ken Rudo gave an
overview of what the state could do to determine
the public health impacts of the medical waste
incinerator. Second, BREDL held a training
session on toxic air pollution testing. The
Bucket Brigade program puts low-cost air testing
devices in the hands of community volunteers. Sam
Kiser, the leader of the Haw River group, and
several other residents attended. The combination
of solid scientific data and a community health
investigation will give residents the backing
they need to organize for pollution reductions in
Alamance County.
Blue Ridge
Environmental Defense League continues to work
with the residents of Haw River and the nearby
communities of Graham and Mebane in Alamance
County to end the negative health impacts caused
by Stericycle and to end toxic business-as-usual
in the medical waste incineration industry.
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Hospitals in the
United States produce an estimated 2 million tons
of waste per year. Much of this medical waste is
disposed of in incinerators. About 10-15% of
hospital waste is regulated as infectious,
requiring a special disposal process called
“red-bagging.” Studies show that
red-bagging for infectious waste is overused in
most institutions and that some hospitals dispose
of up to 30% of their waste as infectious. For
example, in surgical units, surveys show that a
considerable amount of so-called infectious waste
is generated before the patient even enters the
operating room.
Plastics comprise
15-30% of the medical waste stream— twice that of ordinary
household waste. And hospital waste includes a
greater proportion of polyvinyl chloride. Plastic
made with PVC contains about 50% chlorine and
represents a large source of dioxin formation in
incinerators. One analysis found that PVC gloves
and IV bags alone accounted for over 80% of the
chlorine content in medical waste. Vinyl
chloride, from which PVC is made, is a known
human carcinogen.
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Sept 19, 2003: BREDL comments on Title V permit
for Stericycle, Inc, Haw River, Alamance County,
NC (.pdf)
June 25, 2003: BREDL comments on reopened Title
V permit for Stericycle, Inc, Haw River, Alamance
County, NC (.pdf)
Jan. 15, 2002 - BREDL comments on
Stericycle, Inc, Haw River, Alamance County, NC
Title V permit
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