The measure was designed to combat an initiative by ReWorld Tulsa to transform a 40+ year-old municipal trash incinerator into what would become the largest regulated medical waste incinerator in the United States — while continuing to operate under the far less stringent regulatory structure designed for municipal solid waste. HB 4413 seeks to close the loophole that allows the burning of large volumes of regulated medical waste.
“Tulsa residents deserve regulatory integrity — not loopholes,” said Blancett. “I am thankful to the committee chairman and members for hearing this bill, but I am disappointed it did not pass and that Tulsa residents will experience a risk increase that will ensue by converting a municipal trash incinerator into the largest medical waste incinerator in the United States. It is irresponsible to burn regulated medical waste and claim it is non-hazardous. We had a chance to mitigate this risk, and I will not stop trying to better protect the residents of Tulsa from the interests of large corporations.”
Regulated Medical Waste includes:
- Surgical waste
- Sharps (needles, scalpels, therefore metals)
- Dialysis waste
- Expired vaccines
- Pathogen-contaminated materials
- Plastics, rubber, and metals exposed to infectious agents
When burned, these materials release:
- Mercury
- Cadmium
- Lead
- Acid gases
- Fine particulate matter
- Dioxins and furans (highly toxic halogenated organic compounds)
- Beryllium
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