Dioxin
Out to Help, or Out to Hurt?
Imagine yourself building a life in a neighborhood that has everything to offer: A playground for the children, a day care center, an elementary school, a hospital, and friendly people. Everything seems to be perfect until you find out that the hospital, noted for helping people overcome illness and other ailments, is in turn causing some of those health problems. This neighborhood is not so ideal anymore. You begin to ask yourself if there was something you could have done, something you should have known, but you just don't have the answers. You are not alone. Thousands of people are learning about the effects of dioxin in their neighborhoods all the time, and there is something everyone can do about it. For starters, pinpointing the source of the problem is essential. In this case, the dioxin is being emitted into the air, water, and soil by way of a hospital incinerator. However, this is not just an argument for the environment, it is an issue of morality as well. It is up to the people to take action and fight for their right to a clean, safe environment.
The Cortland Memorial Hospital incinerator is a major producer of dioxin in the Cortland area, as are all hospital incinerators throughout the world (Gibbs 53). The Environmental Protection agency has estimated that roughly 53 percent of all dioxin is cause by medical waste being burned in the hospital incinerators, and most of this is unnecessary (55). Through much research and investigation, it has been discovered that much of this dioxin is coming from the improper disposal of ALL hospital waste. Pam Jenkins, a previous advocate to stop the amount of dioxin being released into the air by Cortland Hospital, shared some of her information with us about the disposal of the waste after it is generated by the hospital. She informed us that materials and products, which can be sent to the landfill, are in actuality, being burned right in the hospital incinerator. The fact that materials such as hospital bedding, IV bags, food waste, metals, plastics, and other hazardous materials are being burned in the incinerator is affecting the neighborhoods surrounding the hospital because the smoke carries the toxins and deposits them all over. How is dioxin created in these incinerators, and how does it affect community citizens?
Studies have shown that dioxin is not formed right away, but it forms after the gases from the materials burned are cooled (Gibbs 53). The smoke is then released through smoke stacks (53) and falls throughout the community. When the smoke particles fall within the community, specifically Cortland, many different areas of the environment are contaminated. It falls on farmlands, allowing cattle and other animals to ingest it, passing it down to other animals and humans who eat them; it falls in rivers causing the fish to be contaminated; it also falls on crops that people and animals eat (49). What exactly does this mean for concerned people?
People living near hospitals may not even know this is happening, but they should. People need to realize and address the concerns they may have. If these bacteria and chemicals are ingested or breathed in, there are serious effects that can stem from this. The effects can include a reduced sperm count and a weakened immune system, or diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and skin defects (www.greenpeace.socialchange.net.au/nzgreenpeace/deadly.htm). What exactly is the problem in the Cortland community?
Through our research, we have seen the incinerator of the hospital as a major pollutant for the community. About five years ago, Cortland and Tompkins counties were disposing their waste in the Cortland incinerator. They brought their garbage to the hospital incinerator instead of taking it to the landfill; as a result, the hospital was burning it all (Jenkins). The major problem trying to be fought is that ALL the garbage and waste produced by the hospital is being thrown into the incinerator and burned. Most of the waste is composed of materials that can be disposed at the landfill. These materials are producing toxins that are then put into the air, soil, and water, like stated before. What should we do?
A logical solution for the proper disposal of the hospital waste is simple. Ideally, a new incinerator would be best. It could be built in an isolated area, cutting back on the effects it has on the residential areas. Though a new incinerator is near impossible, a law should be made to ensure that all waste materials are properly disposed of. The materials should be checked in order to be sure that they can be disposed in the landfill, or if they should be disposed in the incinerator. There should be people who supervise this by enforcing the law. If the hospital administration is lenient or neglects to enforce proper disposal, then severe legal action should be taken. How should this solution be acted out?
It has been said "The truth won't stop the poisoning. But organizing will" (Gibbs 143). The key to taking care of this problem is organization. The community needs to pull together, notice there is a problem, and fight until it is solved! In doing so, our group, the W.W.T., Women Working Together, has decided it is important to lobby politicians, involve the community, make them aware, and visit the hospital ourselves to get some answers. We intend to involve the mayor, and have him, along with a representative from our organization, go to the hospital and meet with the administration. We also feel it necessary to do random checks on the generation of waste in the hospital and where it all goes. In order to cut down on the amount of toxic and hazardous wastes, we are proposing that the Cortland Memorial Hospital sterilize all medical waste, such as IV bags, and other hazardous materials, before disposing of them. In this way, they will no longer be dangerous and can be sent to the landfill (McCally). This process is known as "autoclaving" (McCally). If this goes through, eventually the incinerator will no longer be needed because all the waste would then be able to go to the landfill, decreasing the amount of dioxin tremendously (Rachel 179). Why is this such a problem in Cortland though?
The reason dioxin is so prevalent in Cortland, according to Pam Jenkins, is because of the climate. Cortland is a "temperature inversion" (Jenkins) climate. This means that the clouds collect all the particles from the smoke from the incinerator and sits over the valleys. Therefore, when it rains and snows, the dioxin is released into the environment by way of precipitation (Jenkins). However, the climate is not the only reason so much dioxin is being emitted into the Cortland air. The release of dioxin goes beyond science, beyond technicalities, and is directed toward morality.
The fight against the release of dioxin is
a morality fight of the people in the contaminated neighborhoods and communities.
"Environmental justice calls for universal protection from nuclear testing
and the extraction, production and disposal of toxic/hazardous wastes and
poisons that threaten the fundamental rights to clean air, land, water
and food"
(Gibbs 310). Though this moral argument
was established by representatives from the "First National People of Color
Environmental Leadership Summit" (309), it holds true for all people.
The people in the Cortland community, especially in neighborhoods surrounding
the hospital, are not being protected from the hazards of toxic waste.
This toxin is being ingested through their food, water, and even on the
playgrounds their children play on. Not only are the air, land, and
water being threatened, but they are being ignored. If the hospital
truly was concerned with what it was doing, it would see the most effective
ways of changing the incinerator to produce less dioxin, and eventually
not be needed. The hospital administration is closing its eyes to
the fact it is harming the people around them, and they are only open to
the fact it is convenient to throw everything in the incinerator.
They need to forget about convenience and start thinking about other people
first. Isn't that the goal of a hospital anyway?
Another moral argument that can be made is the idea of informed consent. As stated by the "First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit" (309), "environmental justice calls for the strict enforcement of principles of informed consent" (311). It is the moral responsibility of the hospital to let the community know what is going on. This also ties in with the ethical argument made above. The people in the surrounding neighborhoods should be made aware of what is going on, and then they are able to choose if they wish to stay in that area or not. The hospital would not be to blame as much if something were to happen, because they told the people what was going on. Also, the community, if they were informed of what the hospital was doing, and what was being produced and released into their town, might be interested in helping the hospital fix the problem. By involving the community, and letting them know what is happening, they may not be so quick to argue, but perhaps they would be more willing to help fix the problem. Unless of course the hospital does not see this as a problem.
Dioxin, and the fact that it is released into
the air, not only in Cortland, but all over, is a growing problem.
It is possible that citizens see this as a problem but are just unsure
of where to begin to tackle it. However, it is also possible that
many people do not know what dioxin is, or that it is even contaminating
their community. The fact that the hospital incinerator is releasing
dioxin in the air is a major problem that can be taken care of. Community
members can lobby, send letters, attend rallies, open their doors to listen
to people trying to help. People can also work together to propose
laws, and ensure that materials are sterilized, so they can be sent to
the landfill, and eventually the incinerator won't even need to be used.
The argument goes beyond environment protection and can be argued on a
moral level as well. The citizens have the right to know what is
going on in their community, and they also have the right be protected
against these toxins. Many things are at stake here, but if everyone
pulls together and works as hard they can everyone will be able to "Help
fight dioxin before dioxin fights us" (Group)!
Works Cited
Gibbs, Lois Marie and
the Citizens Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste. Dying From Dioxin.
Boston: South End Press, 1995.
Jenkins, Pam. Telephone conversation. 5 March 2001.
McCally, Michael and Joe Thornton. "Hospitals and Plastics." 12 December 1997. 5 March 2001. <http://uvmcr.uvm.edu/hlthcare/impact/medwaste.html>.
Rachel. "Medical Incinerators Emit Dangerous Metals and Dioxin, New Study Says." 2 May 1990. 6 March 2001. <http://rachel.enviroweb.org/rhwn179.htm>.
"Deadly Dioxin Facts."
6 March 2001. <http://www.greenpeace.socialchange.net.au/nzgreenpeace/deadly.htm>.
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