BLUE RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE LEAGUE
PO BOX 44 ~ Saxapahaw, North Carolina 27340 ~ Phone (336) 525-2003 office ~ Email: sdayton@swcp.com

PRESS ADVISORY

May 20, 2010

Press conference: Tuesday, May 25, 4:30 p.m.

CONTACT: Sue Dayton
(336) 525-2003

Groups to hold press conference on Stericycle’s pollution

On Tuesday, May 25, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and the Haw River Assembly will hold a press conference to reveal flaws in the proposed permit for the Stericycle medical waste incinerator, located in Haw River, NC.

The press conference will take place at 4:30 p.m. at A Storybook Farm Christian School, 4772 Hwy. 54, in Graham, NC, 27253. The press conference will take place prior to a public hearing the same day held by the NC DENR Division of Air Quality at 6 p.m. at Alamance Community College, in Graham.

Three speakers will present information about inadequacies concerning the state’s draft permit for Stericycle:

Sue Dayton, Coordinator of the League’s NC Healthy Communities project, will compare air pollutants being released by Stericycle with the new EPA rules for medical waste incinerators;

Elaine Chiosso, Haw River Keeper and Director of the Haw River Assembly, will speak about impacts to air, soil, surface waters and farmland from air pollutants being released from Stericycle;

Heather Bjork, Alamance County teacher and mother of two young children, will speak about the impacts of air pollutants from Stericycle on developing infants and children.

On Monday, May 17, the Orange County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution that requires Stericycle to comply with the new and more protective EPA rules by 2012 instead of 2014. The Chatham County Board of Commissioners and the Town of Carrboro also joined in adopting the resolution. The resolution was patterned after the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners’ actions to reduce pollution from the BMWNC medical waste incinerator located in Matthews, NC.

The Stericycle medical waste incinerator burns medical waste from 24 states. In 2008-09 Stericycle burned a near record of 26.3 million pounds of medical waste.

For more information contact Sue Dayton, Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, NC Healthy Communities, at (336) 525-2003 or sdayton@swcp.com

PHOTO OP – see attached Orange County Board of Commissioners’ resolution