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Oakland Tribune Tuesday, January 23,
2001  See Also For more information, contact:
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Activists Demand Medical Waste Incinerators Close Oakland medical waste facility accused of emitting pollutants By Douglas
Fischer More than 80 protesters marched into an air district work session Monday demanding the closure of two medical waste incinerators in East Oakland. They might just get it. Bay Area Air Quality Management District officials have said they are considering a denial of a crucial permit Integrated Environmental Systems needs to keep its burners running. District spokeswoman Teresa Lee said Monday regulators have completed the bulk of the work and are simply burnishing the permit's legal elements. "We're trying to make it as bulletproof as possible," she said. "If it's going to be a denial, we want to make sure it stands up on its merit." That comes as shocking news to Bradley Angel, executive director of Greenaction and organizer of Monday's rally, who doubted the district would take such a strong stance against the furnaces. "They are on the verge of a decision that will determine if these incinerators will operate in your community," he told protesters gathered on the steps of the Metro Center in downtown Oakland. "We expect and demand a denial." It would be the first time an industrial facility has been denied a Title V permit by an air district in the nation. The news also seemed equally shocking to IES spokesman Alonza Robertson, who noted the incinerators sit so far below federal and state emissions limits that the company has qualified for three-year testing intervals rather than the usual one-year period. "There's never been a total mechanical breakdown as has been represented to this community," he said. "The company is proud of its record of compliance." Still, the two furnaces running around the clock in an industrial neighborhood off High Street received eight violations from the air district between Jan. 1 and Dec. 11 last year, according to the air district. And regulators remain concerned about numerous pollution-control bypasses, monitor breakdowns and other problems. And IES' assurances that nothing but treated steam exits its twin smokestacks doesn't wash with Lazear Elementary School teacher Louise Lampkin. "A lot of time the smell is just horrible," she said, noting that the smokestacks are visible from the schoolyard where she teaches physical education. "We really need to do something." Many protesters also decried the injustice they suffer from having an incinerator near their neighborhood. "Instead of putting it in a rich community, they want to put it in a community of color," said Sophia Saetern, 16, who lives at 48th Avenue and Foothill Boulevard. "That's wrong." IES officials claim the 15,000 cars an hour that pass on Interstate 880, which bisects the neighborhood, bring far more pollution to the area than their modest plant. They also note state law requires some medical waste to be burned. "We're an easy target," Robertson said as the 80 protesters settled in for a very technical work session on air regulations. "It's up to us to educate them." |