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Washington, D.C. – Moms Clean Air Force testified before EPA today in opposition to the agency’s proposal to exempt so-called “advanced recycling” plastics incinerators from Clean Air Act pollution-control requirements.
Moms from California, Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC, and West Virginia demanded that Administrator Zeldin and EPA keep vital pollution protections in place for these facilities. Allowing plastics incinerators to operate without pollution controls would endanger the health of children and families. By burning plastic waste, the plastics industry is trying to claim they’ve solved the plastics crisis — and to justify their exponential increase in production of single-use plastics.
Cynthia Palmer, Moms Clean Air Force’s senior analyst for petrochemicals, is among those who testified today.
“EPA’s proposal is a giant gift to the plastics industry,” says Cynthia Palmer. “It would allow these incinerators to burn plastic trash without any pollution controls, monitoring, or reporting requirements, incentivizing incineration on-the-cheap at a time when the plastics industry is eyeing the possibility of building dozens or even hundreds of these plastic incinerators in towns across America. And it would enable these heavily polluting facilities to bypass local zoning laws that forbid the siting of incinerators next to schools, daycares, and playgrounds. As a result, more children and families could be exposed to dioxins, formaldehyde, benzene, mercury, arsenic, and other toxic chemicals, increasing the risk of cancers, birth defects, Alzheimer’s, respiratory ailments, and other harms. EPA must abandon this reckless proposal and put children’s health above plastics industry profits.”
Moms Clean Air Force’s Ohio Field Organizer Amanda Rowoldt also testified.
“I closely track pyrolysis incineration in Ohio, and about a year ago I visited the site of a facility that uses pyrolysis incineration to incinerate plastic waste in Licking County, near the Village of Hebron,” says Amanda Rowoldt. “On my first visit, I could see billowing black smoke from miles away. When I arrived, I sat in my car, rolled down my window and took a video. Within minutes I felt a wave of nausea come over me, a stinging headache, and dizziness. I was legitimately frightened for my health. As someone who recently battled cancer and is still enduring treatment, I was alarmed by the quick onset of negative physical symptoms. I immediately rolled up my window and drove away. I strongly oppose any and all efforts by EPA to remove pyrolysis incineration from the Other Solid Waste Incinerators Rule.”