Bitterroot Star: Concerns expressed over RML incinerator
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Concerns expressed over RML Incinerator
By Michael HowellBitterroot Star 02/21/07
Alexandra Gorman, director of science and research for Women's Voices for the Earth (WVE), told the Hamilton City Council at its February 6 meeting that it was time to shut down the medical waste incinerator at Rocky Mountain Laboratory (RML).
Gorman said that while the group she represents, WVE, did sue RML over its proposed expansion project, that lawsuit was settled through mediation and she has great respect for the institution and its staff.
"But I do have concerns about the incinerator and its pollutants," said Gorman. "I'd like to see it shut down."
Gorman said that her analysis of the situation was based upon information produced by the lab and that WVE did not do any independent research, other than analyzing the RML data and researching the issue nationwide.
The problem with medical waste incinerators, according to Gorman, is that they produce and emit toxic air pollutants, such as dioxins, and heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium, as well as hydrochloric acid, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and others. She said that all these pollutants are shown to be coming out of the RML incinerator stack.
Other possible pollutants include PCBs, aluminum, antimony, arsenic, chromium, copper, iron, a whole long list, she said, that has not been tested for locally but is associated with the incineration of medical waste generally. She said that the pollution created by medical waste incineration is persistent and cumulative in the environment and in the human body.
Gorman said that alternatives did exist in the form of autoclaves, a method of steaming waste, and alkaline hydrolysis, a chemical reaction, that can effectively replace the use of an incinerators for medical waste and had in many places around the country. She said the number of medical waste incinerators in the country had dropped by 97 percent in 1997 from a total of 24,000 to only 72.
According to Gorman, RML is "probably one of the best run incinerators in the nation," and meets the current minimum standards for pollutants that are monitored by the lab.
"But there is a difference between what's legal pollution and what's healthy and right for our community," said Gorman. Gorman called it ironic that a medical institution following the oath of "first, do no harm," to be willingly emitting unnecessary pollution that can cause harm to human health. She said that, considering that RML is a public facility, funded by taxpayer dollars, with a mission to promote good public health, it should hold itself to a higher standard than simply being legal.
"Just making their pollution legal, I don't think quite cuts it ethically," said Gorman. "If you know that the law is not fully protecting the public health, then you should go the extra step." She also stated that the incinerator was not popular with the public and that the City of Hamilton had something at stake and possibly could make a difference, even though the final decision rests with the lab.
Associate Director of RML, Marshall Bloom, actually spoke to the council prior to Gorman's talk, during the initial public comment portion of the meeting. Bloom chastised Council President DeAnne Harbaugh for not giving the lab the courtesy of notice about scheduling the talk by Gorman. Bloom said that after discovering the scheduled presentation by accident, his attempts to be placed on the agenda as well were rebuffed.
"In other words, with no disrespect for Alexandra Gorman and Women's Voices for the Earth, tonight's meeting has an agenda item listed as 'public health and the RML incinerator,' but there is no one from Public Health or from RML making that presentation."
Bloom submitted a fact sheet to the Council about the lab's incinerator.