A bill aimed at making sure facilities burning regulated medical waste are regulated failed to make it out of an Oklahoma House committee.
Rep. Meloyde Blancett’s HB 4413 failed in the House Appropriations and Budget Committee. The Tulsa Democrat’s bill was designed to combat an initiative by ReWorld Tulsa to transform a 40+ year-old municipal trash incinerator into what would become the largest regulated medical waste incinerator in the United States — while continuing to operate under the far less stringent regulatory structure designed for municipal solid waste. HB 4413 seeks to close the loophole that allows the burning of large volumes of regulated medical waste.
“Right now what this facility is trying to do is they’re permitted as a solid municipal waste facility, which is at a lower level, very much lower level of toxins than regulated medical waste. So what they’re trying to do is get a variance on the solid waste permit to include medical waste,” she said.
“Tulsa residents deserve regulatory integrity — not loopholes,” said Blancett. “I am thankful to the committee chairman and members for hearing this bill, but I am disappointed it did not pass and that Tulsa residents will experience a risk increase that will ensue by converting a municipal trash incinerator into the largest medical waste incinerator in the United States. It is irresponsible to burn regulated medical waste and claim it is non-hazardous. We had a chance to mitigate this risk, and I will not stop trying to better protect the residents of Tulsa from the interests of large corporations.”
Tulsa TV station, KTUL, reported in February ReWorld came out against the bill.
“HB 4413 would impose limits that the EPA derived for a completely different process, in direct opposition to the Clean Air Act. The bill would restrict needed treatment capacity without improving environmental protections beyond those already in place,” the company said in a statement to the station.
Regulated Medical Waste includes:
- Surgical waste
- Sharps (needles, scalpels, therefore metals)
- Dialysis waste
- Expired vaccines
- Pathogen-contaminated materials
- Plastics, rubber, and metals exposed to infectious agents
When burned, these materials release:
- Mercury
- Cadmium
- Lead
- Acid gases
- Fine particulate matter
- Dioxins and furans (highly toxic halogenated organic compounds)
- Beryllium