Lawmakers are considering a bill that would tighten restrictions on the burning of medical waste after residents in central Connecticut raised concerns about a local waste facility.
Senate Bill 80 seeks to hold all waste processing plants that burn even small volumes of used medical supplies — protective clothing and gear, syringes, bandages and the like — to federal U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards that currently apply only to facilities that handle larger proportions of medical waste.
Support for the bill comes in large part from residents of Bristol and neighboring communities, where waste treatment plant Reworld has applied for a permit to burn medical waste in addition to non-medical trash.
Sen. Henri Martin, a Republican who represents Bristol, testified in a hearing before the legislature’s Environment Committee late last month on the proposed legislation, which he cosponsored with several other lawmakers from the Bristol region.
Martin said the bill would close what he described as a “loophole” allowing typical municipal-waste plants in Connecticut to burn a small percentage of medical waste without having to meet federal emissions standards for facilities that burn more of it. “S.B. 80 seems to accomplish what I think is common sense,” he said.
Pollution from municipal waste plants like Reworld — which process non-hazardous household and commercial trash — is regulated in Connecticut by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The EPA has a separate set of standards that apply specifically to medical waste plants. Since Reworld is classified as a municipal, not medical, waste plant, it isn’t currently subject to these standards, even if it starts burning some medical waste.
Reworld burns 716 tons of waste per day, according to its Bristol permit application. Eight percent of that — 57 tons — is considered special waste, which includes expired pharmaceuticals and beauty products and confidential documents from the police department. For the last five years, the plant has been seeking a permit to burn up to 57 tons per day of medical waste instead of the special waste it treats now.
Frazier Blaylock spoke on behalf of Reworld at the Environment Committee hearing. She said the five-year process to acquire a permit to burn medical waste has been “lengthy and demanding,” and that Reworld is fully complying with all regulations. “There are no loopholes here,” she said.
Blaylock said she sees S.B. 80 as unnecessary. “As a highly regulated entity, we strongly oppose a bill which would upend an existing state permitting process that is already extremely rigorous,” she said.
Rayne Pacek, a spokesperson for Reworld, echoed those sentiments in an emailed statement. “Reworld has served the Bristol community with sustainable waste solutions for over 35 years,” Pacek wrote. “We are confident in our continued safe and effective operation in Bristol, and we remain committed to working productively with state and local elected officials and agency staff.”
Tracy Babbage, who leads DEEP’s Bureau of Air Management, sought to clarify the regulatory landscape in her testimony at the hearing. She said Connecticut’s regulations for municipal waste burning are stricter than federal ones, describing them as “robust permitting and enforcement requirements.”
The state allows municipal-waste plants to burn up to 8% medical waste while federal medical waste standards apply to plants that burn 10% or more medical waste, she said. “From DEEP’s perspective, what we’re regulating are municipal waste combustors,” she said. “There actually aren’t any medical waste incineration facilities in the state.”
Some state residents don’t think this makes sense. Francis Pickering, a Southington resident who lives near Reworld, thinks any plant burning medical waste should be held to federal standards for medical waste plants. “If it looks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s a duck,” he said.
Pickering and others said Connecticut’s regulations on burning medical waste are less stringent compared to some nearby states. “How’s that for a highway sign?” he said, referencing the state’s recent efforts to market its strengths along interstate freeways. “Welcome to Connecticut, medical waste capital of New England.”
Bristol residents have been complaining about the Reworld plant, which was formerly called Covanta, for years. They’ve said it’s loud, harmful to the air quality and detrimental to their homes’ property values. The plant’s permit application to start burning medical waste was some residents’ final straw.
They wrote 600 letters of opposition and gathered over 1,000 petition signatures to express their disapproval to DEEP last November. Many of them also spoke at the Jan. 31 hearing.
David James, who lives three miles from Reworld, said he is frequently bothered by the noise the plant makes. “A constant, vibrating drone from Reworld impacts us nightly,” he said. “We can’t sleep. No combination of white noise machines, fans, air conditioners and TVs drown out the grating, vibrating hum enough. We can’t escape it.”
Diane Kosis, who lives in Southington, expressed her concern with toxins settling into the ground in Connecticut and neighboring states. “Do you want to be responsible for your loved ones’ illnesses?” she said.
Burning waste of any kind releases air pollutants, heavy metals and toxic chemicals that can cause cancers and other health impacts, especially in low-income areas and communities of color, according to the environmental advocacy group Natural Resources Defense Council.
If S.B. 80 were to pass, Reworld would be required to reduce its emissions of several pollutants, including lead, cadmium, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide, according to Energy Justice Network, an advocacy group based in Pennsylvania that works with local communities to support anti-pollution efforts.
Mike Ewall, EJN’s founder and director, submitted testimony to the Environment Committee showing how Reworld’s emissions between 2018 and 2020 met state standards for municipal trash facilities but didn’t meet federal standards for medical waste burning. Ewall said he gathered the data on Reworld’s emissions from a webinar the company held in 2021.
Many speakers at the hearing also expressed support for Senate Bill 5108, which aims to set industrial noise standards, and Senate Bill 5107, which would temporarily prohibit medical waste burning until a risk assessment was done. Neither of those bills has received a hearing.