permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 1:39 PM, Lois Grossman <lgrossm2@gmail.com> wrote:

> Massachusetts is considering lifting a 20-year moratorium on building new
> incinerators for the state. MassPIRG is gathering signatures to oppose
> lifting the ban. To me the concept of waste-to-energy is entirely in the
> permaculture mindset, but not if the outcome produces toxic waste. Is there
> any "safe" incineration technology?
>
> Your individual and collective thoughts on this point would be very
> welcome, along with permission to forward the information to appropriate
> individuals involved.
>
> Thank you
> Lois Grossman
>

I live less than 20 miles down wind, down river from Stericycle in Alamance
County NC

Here is a description of efforts to end, limit or change for the better,
emissions from their incinerator:

Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL)
Stericycle Awareness Campaign For Clean Air
http://www.bredl-medwaste.org/aoc-alert.htm
Alamance, Orange, & Chatham Counties' Alert [image: just a spacer]  [image:
just a spacer]
*The times... they are a changin'... And that's all the more reason to end
incineration in Haw River, NC*

Yes, the area around Stericycle is changing indeed. Once a rural area with
cow pastures and woods, Stericycle is now the next door neighbor to planned
housing developments for more than a thousand homes. Families with small
children and pregnant women have started to live close to the plumes.

Stericycle is in the eastern part of Alamance County, very close to the
western border of Orange County and north of Chatham County. Prevailing
winds carry incinerator emissions within Alamance County, to adjacent
Orange and Chatham counties and further.

*Do you live or work in Alamance, Orange or Chatham counties?*
By typing/pasting the Stericycle NC address into an online map, you can see
how close you are to Stericycle's medical waste incinerators. Incinerators
have the most impact on local areas as winds distribute the majority of the
emissions nearby. The address: Stericycle, 1168 Porter Av, Haw River, NC
27258

*Do you enjoy our natural water resources?*
Do you use them for recreation, viewing natural habitats, or maybe they are
a source for your drinking water? We're talking about the Haw River, the
Haw watershed, and the threats they face from pollution from Stericycle
incinerators.

Stericycle's backyard borders directly on Back Creek. It empties into the
nearby Haw River. Stericycle's stacks emit pollutants into the air over the
Haw River Basin. Natural settling and rains bring many pollutants to the
ground.

*Consider:*

   - The Haw River supplies Pittsboro with it's drinking water.
   - With drought conditions, OWASA has discussed piping water from the Haw
   River to refill the Cane Creek reservoir - drinking water for Chapel Hill,
   Carrboro and Orange county.
   - The Haw River supplies Pittsboro with it's drinking water.
   - The Haw River feeds into Jordan Lake, a drinking water source for
   Cary, north Chatham and western Wake.
   - The Haw River flows into the Cape Fear Basin, and down to Wilmington.
   - A fish advisory for
mercury<http://www.epi.state.nc.us/epi/fish/current.html>is already in
place for all waters in our state. Fish consumption is
   advised to be limited due to mercury uptake by fish in NC waters. While
   power plants in our state have contributed heavily to mercury in our
   waters, the Stericycle facility in Haw River is also a mercury polluter
   with a history of violations for mercury. Young children and pregnant women
   are particularly 
vulnerable.<http://www.bredl-medwaste.org/healthimpact.htm>
   We don't need to add more dangerous mercury pollution from incineration
   fallout.

 Better and safer solutions than
incineration<http://www.bredl-medwaste.org/hospitals-resources.htm>already
exist for such toxic medical waste produced by hospitals and other
health care facilities. Stericycle and other medical waste companies
already provide some of these alternative technologies today in N.C. (eg,
autoclave and other technologies). We should not be trying to fix one
public health problem by creating another!

The times... they are a changin'... It's time to end incineration in Haw
River, NC.