‘One down, and more to go’ as polluter closes in South Memphis
South Memphis residents were celebrating Tuesday as Sterilization Services of Tennessee left its home of nearly 50 years.
There are 19 article(s) tagged ethylene oxide:
South Memphis residents were celebrating Tuesday as Sterilization Services of Tennessee left its home of nearly 50 years.
After decades of toxic emissions and nearly two years of community pressure on the company, Sterilization Services of Tennessee is leaving its South Memphis facility.
Under new federal guidelines, one Memphis company will have to slash emissions and another seems to be in the process of shutting down.
The attorney representing Sterilization Services said in a recent letter that the company will leave its Florida Street facility before next May.
Anita Albury was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017. Now, she’s one of seven people suing a southwest Memphis business.
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed tighter restrictions on ethylene oxide, or EtO, which is used in a South Memphis facility. But 20 state attorneys general are urging the EPA to forgo or defer the regulations.
The EPA returned to Memphis officially for the first time since last fall when the agency explained the health risks created by local EtO emissions. Representatives discussed proposals to reduce the community’s risks from the chemical.
Ethylene oxide, or EtO, has been on the community’s radar since the Environmental Protection Agency identified a Florida Street business as one of 23 high-risk polluters.
However, it could take years for the proposed regulations, which would govern emissions of a cancer-causing chemical, to be finalized and enforced.
“Community members shouldn’t have to wait years for relief. Instead of making excuses and dodging questions, the Shelby County Health Department needs to act now to make the facility reduce its emissions or — if it continues to refuse — shut down completely.”
The Shelby County Health Department shared the results of its first-ever cancer incidence study on Tuesday, March 28. It found no evidence of cancer clusters near a South Memphis facility that emits a cancer-causing chemical called ethylene oxide, or EtO.
The County Commission vote approves a nonbinding piece of legislation, but it’s a show of support for residents and groups such as Memphis Community Against Pollution.
The Shelby County Health Department commissioned the cancer cluster study last fall to learn about historical cancer rates in a South Memphis neighborhood.
A small, but patient, group of South Memphis residents concerned about a cancer-causing pollutant in their neighborhood waited five hours to address the Shelby County Board of Commissioners yesterday.
The Southern Environmental Law Center said that EtO pollution in Memphis justifies the use of the Shelby County health officer’s emergency powers. The health department disagreed.
By looking at the cumulative lifetime cancer risk from individual pollutants scientists can glean how much one chemical is contributing to overall risk.
“What we’re doing here is asking them to initiate those same interventions that they’re putting in their other sites across the country and not wait for the EPA,” said Memphis City Council member Jeff Warren.
Residents who live near the Sterilization Services of Tennessee facility in South Memphis have a lifetime cancer risk of 100 in a million from EtO exposure, according to the EPA.
A recent assessment of a local commercial sterilization facility shows elevated risk of long-term exposure to ethylene oxide, a chemical that is carcinogenic to humans through inhalation.
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