FF. - Dec Former Whitby Mayor Des Newman, one of a nunber of concerned citizens who appeared before representativës of the Environmental Assessment Board during the opening days of the Decom hearing, has some sericous reservations about the company's application to build a pathological waste transfer station in Whitby. These reservations, said Mr. Newman in an inter- view last week, have led him to conclude that there is good reason to believe that Decom management is not up to the task of operating a facility with the kind of far-reaching en- vironmental implications inherent in the application. "When I heard about the proposal, my first concern was the location and I was interested in the planning issue so I decided to attend the hearing and spent some time reading the ap- plication. "If you have some background in this kind of application you can usually find soft spots but I began in my reading to be concerned because it was fairly ob- vious that the applicants had not made a very rigorous presentation. The design and protocols I found extremely deficient and I WHITBY FREE PRESS. WEDNESDAY. APRIL 16. 1986. PAGE 11 >m proposal raises serious questions thought there has to be more to it than this. They just don't appear to be sen- sitive to the things they should be so I went to the hearing," said Mr. Newman. What Mr. Newman heard in the way of testimony from Decom's expert wit- nesses in the hearing's opening days- did little to allay his concerns and in fact fortified his conviction that Decom had not done its homework. In Mr. Newman's estimation, Decom's presentation to date has been riddled with vague generalizations, omissions and outright errors. One such error which im- pressed Mr. Newman on the first day of the hearing was an assertion made by one of Decom's witnesses that wastes from the treatment of cancer would not require any special treatment over- and-above that used for any of the other materials Decom handles. "(Decom's) microbiolo- gist made light of questions about the materials used in the treatment of cancer patients and (a doctor who addressed the board) made it clear that these materials present a very serious hazard. (The microbiologist) clearly said these materials would not A summary of t Editor's Note: The fitted with full metal following is only a sum- linings, seif-contained mary of some of the more refrigeration units capable important design and of operating independently protocol features built into of the vehicie engine and the Decom Medical Waste will conform to ail ap- Systems proposal currently plicable regulations and before the Environmental guidelines. Assessment Board. The en- While on site, aIl waste tire written proposal is 16 will be contained in the pages in length and a com- refrigerated vehicles and plete review would require an extra trailer will always more room than space be kept at the station as permits. Any perceived back-up in the event that gaps in the proposal as one of the vehicles' presented here do not refrigeration units fails. necessarily reflect om- The proposai notes that missions in the proposai iL- Decom will only colect self. waste that has been Ah application by Decom proporly packaged and con- Mediical Waste Systems tained at the source. Whiie currently before the En- the waste is being tran- vironmental Assessment sferred from the collection Board proposes errecting a vehicies to the transport pathological waste transfer trailers, they wiil be parked station on Sunray St. in inside the station, back to Whitby. In addition to back so that the waste can housing the company's be moved from one to the head office, warehouse and other without, under nor- a records storage area, the mal conditions, coming into terminal would serve as a direct contact with the transfer site where waste floors or walis of the collected from biomedical station. Once full, the waste generators would be trailers will be sealed and transferred from collection hauled to Gatineau. vehicles to transport Ail waste picked up wili trailors for removal to the be documented and then company's incineration receipted at the Gatineau facility in Gatineau Quebec. incinerator and even waste There' will be no generated at the transfer processing, disposal or site wiil be shipped off to storage of any waste at the Gatineau 80 that no facility, according to the municipal waste removal proposal, and all vehicles wi be required. carrying the waste wilo be The proposail states that require any special treat- ment and that was a serious error," said Mr. Newman. "When a principle wit- ness comes under such at- tack you begin to lose con- fidence in the whole process," he added. Mr. Newman also believes it is significant that Walter Wells, a waste disposal consultant ap- pearing as a principle wit- ness for Decom, was only hired by the company in January despite the fact that at that time the hearing was scheduled to begin in late February. While conceding that Mr. Wells appeared to be an ex- pert in his field, Mr. Newman felt the consultant either had not had the time or was not given the authority to put together the kind of substantial proposal he believes is required. Mr. Newman complained that the drawings of the station accompanying Decom's proposal are nothing more than line drawings and contain no detail. While the proposal ap- pears to make ample provisions for the kinds of materials to be used on walls and floors, securing hazard areas from the rest of the station and the out- doors, and for back-up refrigeration, Mr. Newman he Deco collection trucks will be cleaned in a specially designated area within the transfer station while all transport trailers and waste containers will be cleaned in Gatineau. Because all operations are performed inside the building with the doors closed, and the waste remains in sealed con- tainers at all times, Decom maintains there will be no odour or emissions. Under the heading "Special Design Features of Facility" the proposal suggests that the station is designed to satisfy three essential criteria: "Com- pliance with al applicable municipal, provincial and federal government legislation, regulations and building codes; contain- ment and isolation of waste in the event (however unlikely) of any accidental spills or leaks; efficient movement of vehicles to permit easy vehicle to vehicle transfer in order to minimize the handling of waste; further reduce any possibility of accidential spills and leaks; and minimize the time in which waste is present at the premises." Apart from the offices and reception area, the main components of the facility are the area set aside for transfer waste from one vehicle to another noted that there is no men- tion of emergency power in the event of a power failure, emergency lighting, or proper ventilation to clear bad air out of the station af- ter chlorine has been ap- plied to disinfect a spill. "They've just done the conceptual engineering and that's not appropriate when SEE PG. 30 Des Newman m proposal and a second area for proceeds to washing the collection protocol for vehicles. A third area is ment and dec designed to separate these of spilis or leak areas from the rest of the sport vehicies building and will be used by transfer statio staff working with the the scene of a waste for showering, way accident. changing and laundering In ail vehicle work clothes after their station there w shift. gloves, In the room designated as detergent, the waste transfer area, a bieach, yellc maximum of two collection bags, absori vehicles and two trailers such as kitty il would be engaged in the plastic brush a transfer of waste at one a lined car time. The room is designed îabeîîed "b to withstand repeated waste", gogge. washing with strong proved protecti cleaning solutions and apparatus. would be sealed so that no liquids could escape or ac- In the event cummulate within the side one of the room. Four drains, protec- at the station,: ted by water tight caps and list 0f proceedu screens, will be connected staff to follow to the town's sanitary sewer the spili and ti system but no spills would ther instructe be allowed to enter the spilîs, wheth system until disinfected. Similar precautions vehicnes, th against leaks into thefrom a trafi sanitary sewer system must be r would be taken in the room used for washing thelDems e vehicles and the proposaladepartmE notes that "the volume and antenMins contamination level of washpvinen water from this area (and in fact the entire facility) If a Decom will be considerably lower voived in an & than that of a commercial proceedures fol carwash." drivers are in Thepoproposaidthen address the the contain- ontamination ks in the tran- , within the n itself or at major high- es and at the ill be rubber quafernary household w garbage ent material itter, a small nd dust pan, dboard box biohazardous es and an ap- ive breathing of a spill in- vehicles, or Decom has a ures for their to clean up hey area fur- ed that all er in the e transfer se resulting fic accident eported to office, the ent of Health ry of the En- s soon as vehicle is in- accident, the lowed by the strict accor- SEE.PG. 19