AG seeks ‘pause’ on proposed medical waste facility review

Updated at 2:10 p.m.

PROVIDENCE – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha wants a state agency to pause its review of a proposed medical waste facility in West Warwick, “until proper analysis and certifications are completed.”

In a letter to the Department of Environmental Management dated April 14, Neronha said the technology that would be used by MedRecycler-RI, called pyrolysis, needs more testing and is not currently allowed for medical-waste processing under state law.

MedRecycler has proposed collecting up to 70 tons of blood, needles and other medical human and animal waste daily. The medical waste would be shredded, dried and treated at high heat using pyrolysis, which breaks down the waste into gas that can be burned for electricity.

Neronha said the state’s regulatory process for such projects “has to be robust and complete to protect public health and the environment. In matters like these, involving untested technology, strict adherence to the regulatory scheme’s substantive requirements, and going beyond the minimum public input required, is absolutely critical.

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“I urge the Department of Environmental Management to closely scrutinize this facility’s application. There is a lot that is unknown about this new technology. We must be satisfied that it is thoroughly tested for its impact on the environment and on the health and safety of facility employees and the general public before it is approved.”

The Department of Environmental Management says it received more than 600 comments, including Neronha’s letter, as part of the public comment period that closed on April 14.

“DEM staff will carefully consider all of the issues and points that were raised among all of the comments that were submitted,” agency spokeswoman Liz Stone said. “Given that the department must evaluate and respond to comments on the record as part of its decision-making process, it is not appropriate for DEM to respond to the substance of any individual letters at this time.”

Nicholas Campanella, president and CEO of Sun Pacific, MedRecycler’s New Jersey-based parent, last month told Providence Business News the pyrolysis process is safe and that the company is “determined to be a good and safe neighbor in Rhode Island.”

He’s said the project will bring 100 construction and maintenance positions, plus 30 permanent jobs once up and running and $4.75 million in tax revenue for West Warwick over the course of its 20-year lease – mostly through tangible property taxes paid on the equipment.

(SUBS paragraphs 6-7 with DEM response.)