InEnTec medwaste incinerator returns to Red Bluff despite community opposition

On Mon, 10/16/06 members of Tehama County Citizens for a Healthy Community and their allies from Greenaction's legal defense team turned out in great numbers to witness the latest episode of courtroom battles about InEnTec's proposed plasma arc medical waste incinerator planned for Red Bluff. Following the Tehama County Hearing Board's (TCHB) decision to revoke InEnTec's permit at the recommendation of the regional Air Polution Control Office (APCO) several months ago, InEnTec's attorneys responded by filing a lawsuit against the TCHB for making their decision based upon "insufficient evidence" of health risks for humans and riparian ecosystem. Repeating the phrase "insufficient evidence" and "not germane" numerous times, the InEnTec attornies attempted to disprove the known health risks posed to residents by dioxin emissions from InEnTec's plasma arc medwaste incinerator facility..

InEnTec attorneys also claimed that providing public health information translations into Spanish was also not neccesary, despite the fact that many of Red Bluff's farm workers are recent immigrants from Mexico and many cannot read English very well (especially scientific/medical terminology). When making decisions that effect the health of their families, immigrants have the right to read public health documents in their native tongue to avoid any misunderstandings. That InEnTec finds this lack of language translation irrelevent is a clue to their attitude towards the communities in which they chose to operate..

Other communities have had dealings with InEnTec in the past. In Hawaii, InEnTec's plasma arc incinerator technology failed several times and needed to be shut down. In this event any potential biohazard medwaste needed to be removed from it's stage in incineration and once again trucked offsite via HazMat vehicles. In Hanford, WA, InEnTec's attempt to dispose of nuclear waste via plasma arc tech also failed..

InEnTec attorneys tried to downplay the shut down of their equipment in Hawaii by claiming that the operators refused to clean the equipment. Instead, it appears the equipment repeatedly malfunctioned early on, negating InEnTec's claim of neglect on the part of the operators..

Several terms were introduced by Greenaction's pro bono attorney's including "fugitive emissions", pollutants unaccounted for in InEnTec's EIR statement. Fugitive emissions refers to any emissions not traced to a specific source point in the process (ie., waste in loading hopper), considered a random stream of gas not considered by InEnTec's Environmental Impact Report. In addition, Greenaction attorneys also pointed out that several gaps in the APCO info exist, that every component of the plasma arc incinerator system is not accounted for by InEnTec. Burden of proof of safety is needed by the applicant (InEnTec) for the permit, and InEnTec was clearly unable to account for specifics of fugitive (non-point source) emissions in their multiple components of plasma arc incineration technology..

More info from Tehama Citizens for Healthy Community @;
http://www.tehamachc.com/

Background info on InEnTec's plasma arc medical waste incinerator in Red Bluff and health risks of dioxin, other carcinogens written by Red Bluff resident Wilkie Talbert;

"The principal threat to our existence is not from Iraq, Iran, or any political or religious issues---it is from ourselves with our resistance to require our government to adequately determine the biological effects of synthetic chemicals and regulate our chemical interests.


Locally, these issues have come to the following focus: In late 2004, Integrated Environmental Technologies, LLC, (InEnTec) proposed to the Tehama County Planning Department to build and operate a plant that would dispose of medical waste and generate electrical power.

This proposal was accepted without requiring an Environmental Impact Report even though the medical waste included infectious materials and the disposal processes generated small amounts of very toxic pollutants, such as dioxins.

The site selected by Planning was within about a mile of the Sacramento River, a principal irrigation canal, a dairy with feed growing fields, a hospital, a church, a ranch, fruit orchards, and other agricultural fields. Public awareness of the implications finally began when citizens contacted an environmental advocacy group, “Greenaction”, and formed “Citizens for Review of Medical Wastes Imports into Tehama County” to correct the failure of local government to investigate the competence of InEnTec and safeguard citizen’s health."

report continues @;
http://www.tehamachc.com/pollution.htm

other plasma arc incinerator info @;
http://www.greenaction.org/

Other concerns are to the riparian ecosystem along the Sacramento River where InEnTec plans to locate their facility. Many fish, migratory and resident birds, insects and mammals call the thin strip of riparian vegetation (cottonwoods, willows, oaks, tule reeds, etc..) along the Rio Sacto their home. In addition, people who are reviving the time tested art of indigenous style basket weaving depend on the tule reeds and other wetland plants as materials for their basketry. Needless to say, keeping pollution of riparian and wetlands habitat to a minimum is needed to maintain the health of basketweavers..

California Indian Basketweavers Association (CIBA) advocates alternative to toxic pesticides. Included in this is an overall concern for riparian habitats and risks from other sources of pollution, including potential dioxin emmissions by InEnTec's medwaste incinerator..

"Since 1991, CIBA has been advocating for alternatives to pesticides that threaten to harm the health of Indian basketweavers. We have worked to educate forestry officials in the U.S. Forest Service, a branch of USDA, and the California Department of Forestry (CDF) about the hazards of using chemical herbicides on native plants in areas where basketweavers may be affected. Many of the plants thus destroyed are central to the traditions of California Indian tribes. Herbicides are widely used by the Forest Service and by industrial timberland owners to kill native trees and shrubs."

read on @;
http://www.ciba.org/news.html

Incinerators of any sort are not good for their local host communities. On a global level, incinerators of all sorts add to the human body burden additional toxins, carcinogens, hormone disrupters, etc.., so that the risk of people developing cancer increases, thus requiring expensive and ineffective medical treatment, thus adding more petrochemically derived medical waste biohazard products in need of incineration, this adding additional toxins to the air, lungs, body, etc..

Ever feel like the hamster running on the spinning wheel?? Round and round we go, where we stop, nobody knows..

InEnTec's claim that their plasma arc technology is safe is disproven by their prior mishap in Hawaii;

"In the US, vendors of these systems have claimed that their technologies produce fewer emissions than traditional incinerators. Yet a recent emissions test of an International Environmental Solutions municipal waste pyrolysis plant in Romoland, California found that the facility produced more particulates, volatile organic compounds and dioxins than either of the two aging nearby municipal waste incinerators, built in the 1980s.

The Romoland plant is by no means unique. The company behind the Red Bluff proposal, InEnTec Medical Services, claimed in its project documents that the plasma technology would be “pollution free” and not produce dioxins - a claim that, it turned out, was contradicted on pages of the company’s own website.

As part of its marketing campaign, InEnTec trumpeted other facilities successfully using technology developed by its parent company IET. But of the commercial facilities cited by InEnTec, one three-year-old medical waste plasma facility in Hawaii had been out of service for a total of 16 months, and a hazardous waste facility in Richmond, Washington, had operated for only a short period before being shut down.

Not only did the Hawaii facility that used IET’s technology close repeatedly, back in 2004 the facility’s owners, Asia Pacific Environmental Technologies, were fined for accepting and storing untreated medical wastes onsite for eight months while the treatment equipment was out of service. Then for eight months in 2004 and 2005 the plasma equipment was again out of service, reportedly due to refractory damage."

report cont's @;
http://www.no-burn.org/resources/library/incin.in.disguise.html

Air quality in Red bluff is not limited to one region, all residents of the Sacramento Valley live under the same inversion layer and may be all suffering from exposure to multiple toxins. We certainly don't need any additional airborne toxins that the body burden we all share from the delta to the foothills..

Everyone throughout the Sacto Valley will be effected by increases in body burden of airborne toxins in InEWnTec is allowed to operate their incinerator in Red Bluff. On any given day, the wind could transport dioxins from InEnTec as far south as Dixon or to the north of Redding. Dixon itself recently got promised a mega casino horse racing facility called "Dixon Downs", approved by Dixon City Council 4-1, Steve "Lone Ranger" Alexander the dissenting vote. Local residents organized "Dump the Downs" to oppose the mega horse racing casino, though were outspent by greyhound/horseracing Magna Entertainment Corporation with material promoting the Dixon Downs. Animal cruelty, steroid enhanced equines, horseshit ponds and traffic gridlocks complete with smog soup await residents of Dixon, Davis, Woodland, etc.. and other downwinders if Dixon Downs is built near the Pedrick/I-80 interchange..

"Why am I harping about particulate matter? Dixon Downs will be hiring large numbers of trucks, diesel trucks. The business of Dixon Downs in large part will be to train horses. There will be trucks to bring feed to these animals, all 1400 of them. There will be trucks to take their
manure off the site. There will be trucks to bring in litter for the stalls. There will be trucks to bring horses into the facility and trucks to take them out of the facility. There will be food delivery trucks coming onto the site. There will be waste and garbage trucks to remove waste from the site. Trucks will be traveling in and out, day in and day out, 365 days a year."

article cont's @;
http://www.dumpthedowns.org/Opine4.html

We all share the Sacto Valley air together, the NOx (nitrogen dioxide) emmissions by Knauf Fiberglass in Redding also add their share of toxins to the valley air. Residents of Redding, Shasta Lake City and other affected communities continue to organize in opposotion to Knauf's increase in NOx pollution credits, bought from recently closed Louisiana Pacific lumber mill. The extra pollution credits aren't good enough for Knauf, who continue to violate clean air laws with NOx, particulates and other toxic emmissions. Knauf's "free trade" intrusion on the bowl shaped northern Sacto Valley inspired enough outrage that eco-activist "Catwoman" scaled their 199 foot tall smokestack towers and unfurled a banner "Save the Child You Know" to warn the community about Knauf's toxic emmissions. Similar to US owned maquiladoras (sweatshops) polluting in Mexico, it is recognized that Knauf operates in the US to avoid stricter environmental and public health standards in Germany. Under WTO "free trade" agreements, foreign corporations like Knauf can freely pollute in the US and override any community opposition. Under the GW Bush regime, the EPA is deaf, blind, dumb, and gagged with their hands tied behind their back..

(May 16, 2006) May is "Clean Air Month." Well, it was supposed to be. Apparently EPA Region 9 didn't get the memo. Rather than enforcing the conditions of Knauf Insulation's original air permit, EPA Region 9 officials have decided to give Knauf a new air permit with higher pollution limits. The new air permit is dated May 11, 2006 and can be downloaded at the EPA's website.

The EPA's website also contains a document called "Response to Public Comments" that attempts to justify their decision to grant a new permit. Since the EPA didn't publish all my comments I've decided to post them here on the website. (see below)

Knauf had been in violation of their original permit since November 22, 2002. The EPA allowed Knauf to break the law for 3 years, 5 months, 19 days. This is a total of 1,266 days.

Knauf polluted our air illegally for nearly three and a half years while EPA officials ignored the situation and made excuses to the public. The granting of a new permit to Knauf shows that the EPA isn't concerned with enforcing their permits or protecting the environment."

boycott Knauf products!

read on @;
http://www.shastalake.com/air/

We call upon Sacramento Valley Earth First!ers to organize autonomous actions against any corporations attempting to worsen the already toxic air. clean air is a human right an we will practice non-violent self defense, including sabotage directed towards Magna Entertainment Corporation, InEnTec, Knauf and any other corporations who attempt to profit from pollution of the Rio Sacto/San Joaquin Valley bioregion..

Sacramento Valley (& San Joaquin Valley) Earth First!ers can set new trends for decentralized autonomous actions throughout the Sacto/San Joaquin Valley bioregion. We also draw inspiration form the evolution of Earth First! as proposed by panagioti in the Mabon '06 EF! journal;

"EF! has been inspired by the permaculture movement's steps toward healing our relationship with the planet. We have also been increasingly shaped by the ideas and actions of anarchist and autonomous movements, both past and present. EF! is in favor of decentralized, small-scale, egalitarian communities that strive to (re)connect to their bioregions and make strides toward recovering the wild nature inside us all. This is not just some utopian fantasy. People are nurturing these communities here and now, in the hearts of cities and in the mountains, some new and some existing for several millennia old, all over the world."

read on @;
http://www.earthfirstjournal.org/articles.php?a=916

There will be plenty more "Catwoman" styled eco-activists in the near future to engage in direct action against polluting corporations like Knauf, InEnTec, Magna, etc.., including possible networking between EF!ers and ELF/ALF to increase efficacy of direct action, getting to the roots of the problem, market based capitalism..