This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
An interview with an anonymous former employee, featured in a new local documentary, significantly raises the stakes in the long and sorry saga of the medical waste incinerator, Stericycle.
The ex-employee gives a credible, extraordinarily detailed account of fraudulent, illegal management practices far beyond what prompted the criminal investigation by state and federal law enforcement. He alleges shocking disregard for public and employee safety by Stericycle management — including directing employees to ignore the geiger counter giving radioactive readings of the waste and to burn it anyway. Furthermore he stated the geiger counter didn't work much of the time.
While radioactivity is carried in some parts of hospital waste, Stericycle is not permitted to burn anything radioactive — and with good reason. No amount of radiation exposure is safe. Quoting from an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, "Mutagenic effects theoretically can result from a single molecular DNA alteration ... every molecule of a carcinogen is presumed to pose a risk." In fact the medical community is now much more cautious about the radioactive burden of many of our common diagnostic tools, such as CAT scans, because of this growing recognition. Even low dose radiation exposure can damage chromosomes, alter gene expression and lead to cancer, brain diseases, immune disorders, birth defects and miscarriages — all of which North Salt Lake residents believe are in excess in their neighborhoods.
The ex-employee described management deliberately rigging company scales and ignoring their permitted weight limit, a likely reason the state caught them exceeding their dioxin limit by 400 percent. Add to this the revelation that Erin Brockovich's investigative team found dioxin concentrations at alarming levels in the homes nearest Stericycle.
The medical waste incineration industry was born on a false premise — that hospital pathogens must be incinerated. An EPA report dating back 25 years cites numerous studies showing hospital waste overall presents no more risk of spreading infection than household waste — which has virtually the same viruses and bacteria. In fact, incineration doesn't prevent disease, the stack emissions and fly ash actually spread disease.
While merely landfilling is a less than perfect solution, at least the possibility of contamination of ground water is theoretical. Whereas with incineration, the emissions enter the air shed we all breathe from, guaranteeing public exposure, especially for those closest to the incinerator. The ash left over from incineration may be a smaller volume than the original waste, but it is much more toxic, and eventually has to be landfilled anyway. Combustion even adds potent new toxins to the waste stream that weren't there in the first place, like dioxins, furans, and PAHs.
Incineration is widely recognized by many health organizations as an unnecessary, dangerous means of handling waste. In response, more than 98 percent of medical incinerators have closed in the last 15 years. State and local governments made a serious mistake years ago allowing this facility in the first place, made things worse by permitting it in the most heavily populated area of the state and then compounded the problem further by later on allowing hundreds of homes to be built next door.
The largest medical network in the state, IHC, no longer sends waste to the North Salt Lake incinerator. But prominent Stericycle customers such as the Salt Lake City Police Department, airport and University of Utah Hospital Network are still helping perpetuate the debacle by continuing to send Stericycle some of their waste.
Gov. Gary Herbert announced he would launch yet another round of criminal investigations into Stericycle's operations. While he is leaning in the right direction and we applaud his response, as long as the incinerator is still burning, the health consequences continue to mount. Think of it this way: if a house is on fire, the first priority is to rescue those in the house and put the fire out. The second priority is to find out the cause, the extent of the damage, and whether arson was involved. In this case, the first priority is clearly to protect those in harm's way and put Stericycle's "fire" out.
Stericycle's permit is up for renewal in the next few months and the list of reasons to deny a renewal is a mile long. This is a great opportunity for the governor to give his constituents the priority they deserve.
Brian Moench, M.D., is president of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment.