As part of a national rollout to meet with the most vulnerable communities living near commercial sterilizer facilities – based on cancer level risks – the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is hosting a community townhall in Laredo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15, at the TAMIU Fine and Performing Arts Recital Hall. This is the agency’s first such meeting in Region 6 since announcing this new outreach effort earlier this summer.
Interpreters will be on-hand to provide live translation in Spanish.
The Clean Air Laredo Coalition – which was formed last year to address the cancer threat from ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions – encourages parents, elected officials, and all members of the community to attend, ask questions, and get informed.
EtO is a mutagenic DNA-damaging gas. Midwest Sterilization Corp., a Jackson, Missouri-based company, opened in Laredo in 2005 and has emitted thousands of pounds into our air every year.
The EPA “plans to engage with communities facing the highest risk to hear about their concerns and answer their questions as we share details about this risk assessment, community risk, and efforts to reduce this risk,” according to their Website.
EtO is known to cause cancer when people breathe it in over the course of many years. It is especially known to increase their risk of cancers of the blood (i.e. non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, leukemia) and, in women, breast cancer. EtO is one of the most severe air toxics regulated by the EPA. It is 60 times more toxic to children, and 30 times more toxic to adults than previously estimated, according to the federal agency.
Using self-reported data by industry, “EPA scientists and analysts recently completed a risk assessment for communities near the approximately 100 commercial sterilizers currently operating in the United States.” The EPA is now engaging communities where risks is highest based on companies that are contributing to elevated cancer risks at or above 100 additional cancer cases per 1 million (1-per-10,000). Click here to view a list of the top 23 highest priority facilities in the nation. Laredo is one of two in Texas.
In the next few months, the EPA will issue a new rule under the Clean Air Act that is expected to overhaul the amount of ethylene oxide emissions allowed by industry. At that time, the public will be invited to review and comment on this proposed rule.
