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Permits granted to move medical waste incinerator out of North Salt Lake

Posted at 9:37 AM, Sep 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-01 11:38:25-04

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality has granted the necessary permits to move Stericycle out of North Salt Lake and into Tooele County.

In a statement Friday morning, the DEQ said its Air Quality and Radiation Control divisions had approved the solid waste and air quality permits for Stericycle to build a new medical waste incinerator in Tooele County.

“Stericycle proposes to construct, own, and operate a hospital, medical, and infectious waste incinerator (HMIWI) facility in Tooele County. The proposed facility will be located on a 40-acre parcel in a manufacturing zone that includes Wasatch Regional Landfill, U.S. Magnesium, and ATI metals,” the DEQ said in a statement.

“Stericycle plans to construct and operate two HMIWI units equipped with an automated waste feed system to meet the regulatory definition of a continuous feed. Each incinerator will be designed and sized to process 2,050 pounds of hospital, medical, and infectious (HMI) waste per hour, for a total hourly processing volume of 4,100 pounds per hour. The maximum permitted capacity at the new facility will be 18,000 tons of HMI waste per year, or an average of 49.3 tons per day.”

The new incinerator will operate 24-hours a day, the DEQ said. It will generate two types of ash.

“Stericycle will collect both types of ash, analyze them for hazardous compounds, and transport and dispose of them in a permitted landfill,” the DEQ’s statement said.

The move is expected to satisfy anxious and angry homeowners in North Salt Lake who have pressured Stericycle to move in recent years, raising health concerns. Residential development has encroached on the medical waste incinerator.

The Utah State Legislature passed a resolution in 2014 encouraging the medical waste incinerator’s move.