JOHNSTON -- State lawmakers this week considered the question of medical waste dumped at the Central Landfill.
The House considered a bill that would have allowed medical waste from hospitals throughout New England and treated at a Woonsocket plant to be considered as though it origniated from Rhode Island.
State law bans and imposes fines on businesses that dump out-of-state waste at the Central Landfill.
But what about medical waste that is shipped into Rhode Island, treated for infectious contamination and then dumped at the landfill?
Is that waste generated inside or outside the state?
Stericycle, an Illinois-based company that takes in waste from around New England and process it at its Woonsocket plant, asked the General Assembly to consider the question.
In May, Rep. Arthur J. Corvese, D-North Providence, introduced a measure on Stericycle's behalf that would have cemented its right to have the remains from the medical waste treated and destroyed at its facility to be considered solid waste that originated in Rhode Island.
"I think Stericycle wanted a clear legal determination as to whether that material was in-state waste or out-of-state waste," said Terrence Gray, assistant director at the state Department of Environmental Management. "The medical waste they deal with may originate out of state, but they are ultimately generating a waste stream out of Woonsocket."
For example, when a medical glove is shipped in and sterilized for potentially infectious medical waste, the treated glove has to be discarded somewhere.
Corvese said the bill would have provided legal protection for the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation and Stericycle if the state Department of Environmental Management were to change its medical waste policies.
Stericycle currently dumps its treated medical waste at the landfill. The company yesterday did not return calls seeking comment.
On Wednesday, the House considered the issue, and, despite the support of House Speaker William Murphy, the bill was shot down 35 to 33.
Opponents of the legislation said the bill would have opened the state to a barrage of medical waste coming from outside the state.
Rep. Joseph Voccola, D-Johnston, led the bipartisan charge against the bill with Rep. Carol Mumford, R-Scituate, Cranston. Voccola said that currently 90 percent of the medical waste that Stericycle treats and then dumps in the landfill comes from outside the Ocean State.
"It was a horrible thing because we don't need more medical waste being brought over here," he said. "We killed it by two votes."
Mumford said the state's low tipping fees play at the heart of the issue.
"The tipping fees are about $15 cheaper per town compared to neighboring states," she said.
As it stands companies that treat medical waste are regulated through the attorney general's office and must receive an opinion from the that office as to whether the treated medical waste should be classified as being generated inside or outside the state's borders.
Attorney General Patrick Lynch approved of Stericycles treated waste being dumped at the landfill, Corvese said.
So now that the proposal is dead what is going to change?
Not too much, according to Corvese. Even without the bill, Stericycle is going to dump the treated waste at the landfill, he said.
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