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Information Meeting Tonight for Incinerator Expansion
EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio -- A public information meeting is scheduled for this evening regarding Heritage Thermal Services’ application for a permit to expand its hazardous waste incinerator here by 25%. The meeting is set for 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the North Elementary School library, 90 Maine Blvd.
The East Liverpool incinerator accepts, stores and treats shipments bulk solids, bulk liquids and containers of all sizes, according to the company’s website. Waste types it accepts include reactive materials, controlled substances as defined and regulated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, consumer commodities and household hazardous waste.
Critics charge the company has not addressed concerns about past problems at the incinerator, which has drawn protests since its construction in the 1990s. Last July, the incinerator emitted a cloud of ash, critics note. Dust from the cloud settled in the neighborhood, coating the homes, gardens, pools and cars of residents living nearby, they say.
“It was all over my son, my mom, my nephew, my car and my house,” said Staci Shaw, a resident of East Liverpool’s East End neighborhood, adjacent to the incinerator. “I worry very much about the expansion. I have small children and there is no way this is good for their health.”
Since last July, a group of concerned residents called Save Our County has written to the governor, the Environmental Protection Agency and others, seeking answers about what chemicals coated Shaw and her neighbors’ homes but say they have yet to obtain any information. Alonzo Spencer, a longtime anti-incinerator activist and leader of Save Our County, says the ash cloud is just one of many violations over the years that have been met with an underwhelming response from the Ohio EPA.
Today, the incinerator burns about 60,000 tons of hazardous waste a year.
According to data compiled by the Ohio Department of Health compiled between 1996 and 2005, cancer rates in East Liverpool -- 615 per 100,000 people -- are considerably higher than the Ohio average of 483 and the national average of 450. The study also found high rates of prostate, breast, lung, colon, uterine, and bladder cancer. The University of Cincinnati is studying the effect of manganese emissions on residents of East Liverpool. Preliminary results show a link between the emissions and high rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other cognitive problems among residents.
“We’re hoping to see a lot of residents asking a lot of questions at this public information meeting,” said Amanda Kiger East Liverpool resident and organizer with Communities United for a Responsible Environment. “Our community is surrounded and overrun by toxic facilities and considering the fact that so many of my friends and neighbors are very sick, we don’t need one of the biggest facilities getting any bigger.”
The public will be able to submit comments to the Ohio EPA about the proposed expansion until Dec. 9.
From Company Website:
Heritage Thermal Services hosts members of the Coalition for Responsible Waste Incineration
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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