Few people are aware that two of the country's largest medical waste incinerators burn 24/7 in our community. At Stericycle's Haw River incinerators, 26.3 million pounds of medical waste burned in 2008-09. Waste from 20 states plus D.C. and Puerto Rico filled the air in surrounding counties.

Medical waste is an old technology, producing toxic emissions including dioxins, mercury, lead and acid gases. It aggravates our lungs, contributes to heart problems, and puts young children and pregnant mothers at special high risk.

Non-incineration technologies pose much less risk. Stericycle has one of these facilities, an autoclave in Concord, N.C. It has the capacity to handle a large percent of medical waste that currently goes to its Haw River incinerators.

Instead, Stericycle's Title V incinerator permit is up for renewal right now, even though its current permit expired in May 2007. The renewal would come just ahead of the state's adoption of new EPA standards that mandate stricter emissions standards.

But the EPA's new rules won't be in place in N.C. until October. Renewing the permit now means Stericycle can continue to operate under the old rules until 2014. That is too much time to wait for cleaner air.

The state may hold a public hearing on Stericycle's permit renewal if citizens show enough interest. Referencing the Stericycle Haw River Title V Permit, please write to Mr. Gautam Patnaik, Division of Air Quality, 1641 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1641 or gautam.patnaik@ncdenr.gov

Carolyn Cole

Chapel Hill