PAGE 2. WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER 1 b. 1985, Wl ITTBY FREE PRESS Stoner protests dumping of pathological waste By SUSAN LESJAK Free Press Staff The inadvertent dum- ping of 150 pounds of pathological waste into the Brock West landfilî site has left Durham Regiorial counillors concerned. Whiîe the region's medical officer of health, Dr. Jean Gray, described the incident as "one isolated" case, its discovery has con- FOR THE MONTH 0F OCTOBER ONLY AT CHIOKEN & SEAFOOD 9 PC. ECONOMY BOX 4 Just chlcken, 9 deliclous peces of golden $ trled chicken. Great for 3 or 4 people. Plus 1 FREE Coke 750 mg- pus 3scposit m Or 1 Medium Salado your cholce YOU CAN HAVE LUNCH FOR UNDER 82.00 1IPC'SNACK AND . ~9 CANO0F COKE E One cholce pisce of dellolous trled chicl<en wlth trench t ries. CHECK NEXT WEEK'S AD FOR THE WINNERS 0F THE DIXIE LEE COKE CONTEST. 1017 DUNDAS ST. E.,. WHUTBY <Beside WindmlIl Donuts and Dalry Queen> MON.-SAT. il &.m. -11 p.m. SUN. 11 a.m. ,0p.m. firmed Pickering coun- cillor Norah Stoner's worst fears. "It only, proves we have no control over what goes into our ian- dfill site. This whole landfill agreement with Metro is a monster out of control." The region has an agreement with Metropolitan Toronto which allows the neighboring municipa- lity to dump tons of its garbage into the Brock West site in Pickering. Although the dumping of sewage, radiactive and pathological waste is strictly prohibited, workers at the Brock West site found human tissue and medical refuse leaking fromn garbage bags dumped there Sept. 25. Fearing that the material was infectious, and would be hazardous if handled, the workers alerted' representatives of the Ministry of En- vironment and the region's health unit. Inspection of the Brock West site revealed approximately 10 to 12 bags of anatomical waste mixed in with a ship- ment of 40 tons of jiousehold garbage from St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. Charges against the hospital and the disposai company that carted the waste are pending under the En- vironmental Protection Act. Af ter determining that the removal of the garbage was too hazar- dous, the ministry buried it, said Alex Con- nor, one of the public health inspectors to be called to the side. The work crew dumped two hoppers of dlay on the contaminated area -- 12 foot by 8 foot by 40 foot in size - and bulldozed "the whole mess into the landfill." "By the time we left, it was covered by four feet of garbage and two feet of dlay, " he said. Also at the site was St. Michael's director of housekeeping. The director is reported to have readily admitted the hospital's error, at- tributing it to the in- correct bagging of the garbage by the nursing st.aff. Anatomical waste is normally put in red bags while yellow bags are reserved for infectious waste. Yellow bagged garbage is only taken to landfill sites if it has been autoclaved or heat treated. The waste found at Brock West should have incinerator, not a landfill site. The disposaI company may not have detected the yellow bags, ex- plained Connor, since the garbage is received in large compacted con- tainers. If some of the bags hadn't split open, the workers at the site might also not have discovered them. While some described the incident as an unfor- tunate mistake, Stoner viewed it more soberly. 'lHow many bags of things that shouldn't be there do you think that there are? " asked Stoner. "I'm sure the agreement has been breached by Metro hun- dreds and hundreds of times." The problem, as she sees it, is that landfilî sites are not properly monitored. While trucks are weighed before they dump, no one reaîly knows what's in them. "Perhaps (this in- cident) is just the only one we've caught," said Scugog Mayor Jerry Taylor. Stoner told Durham council Wednesday that she intends to press for a bylaw prohibiting the dumping of pathological waste. While she acknowîedged that the agreement with Metro aîready prohibits~ pathological waste, she said Metro was not living up to the agreement. "Perhaps a bylaw is the next step. " "Or," she added after somne reflection, "now that we have an agreement that's been breached, maybe we can get out of the agreement." McKinney rec eives long service award A long time member of the Whitby Hydro Electric Commission, was presented with long service award by the Ontario Municipal Elec- tric Association at their recent annual meeting. Dr. John H. McKinney was honored for having given 15 years of service to the W.H.E.C. In making the presen- tation, O.M.E.A. president William Rowney remarked: In today's political en- vironment, it is a marked achievement to serve for an extended' period of time i an elected or appointed of- fice. "'Continued service in public office not only in- creases the knowledge and capabilities of the incumbent, but con- tributes to an enriched municipal distribution system serving the eîec- tricity consumers of On- tario, " he added.