Dear Mayor Caggiano,
As a Bristol resident, I'm asking you to withdraw the city's public support for Covanta's plan to start burning infectious, pathological, and chemotherapeutic medical waste in our city. Covanta has applied to replace 8% of the trash they burn here in Bristol with up to 20,900 tons/year of these medical wastes.
Sincerely,
[signature block]
As a Bristol resident, I'm asking you to withdraw the city's public support for Covanta's plan to start burning infectious, pathological, and chemotherapeutic medical waste in our city. Covanta has applied to replace 8% of the trash they burn here in Bristol with up to 20,900 tons/year of these medical wastes.
- Covanta wants to start burning up to 20,900 tons/year of medical waste from hospitals, medical facilities, and human and animal medical research facilities throughout the Northeast. This is twice what Connecticut generates, and would make them one of the largest medical waste incinerators in the nation.
- Covanta will not need to comply with the stricter air pollution standards that apply to official medical waste incinerators. They will only be required to meet less protective standards that apply to trash incinerators.
- Burning medical waste releases toxic pollutants like dioxins and furans which can cause cancer, reproductive problems, birth defects, immune system suppression, and lung problems.
- Medical waste incineration is unnecessary, as the nation has largely shifted to safer non-burn alternatives. Medical waste is not required to be incinerated. Only two states in the Northeast require burning of pathological waste (body parts), which is less than 1% of the medical waste stream.
Sincerely,
[signature block]