Medrecycler Project (RI) - some are claiming $500,
Post# of 10417
Can someone explain the $500k per month assertion? Seems to me the DEM was clear on the factors contributing to the denial. Yes, they in the next to the last paragraph did mention the new law. However, they raised concerns in the prior paragraph that were quite substantial. I have listed the items below. Even without the new law it sure looks like the concerns were contributing factors in the denial. Hard to believe approval would have been granted based on these concerns irrespective of the new law. Sure would like to better understand the belief that $500k per month could be awarded……
The proposal did not include adequate details about testing protocols, necessary for public review, as part of the permit review process for a medical waste treatment plant. o The proposal's contingency and response plans – what happens in the event of an emergency? – are incomplete. Many of the 400+ members of the public who commented during the application's comment period cited concerns about the proposal's lack of strong environmental monitoring and safety plans. DEM shares these concerns. o Related, DEM found the proposal's lack of clarity about how much and where medical waste would be safely stored to be a critical deficiency in the application. This impacts the proposed operation, monitoring requirements, contingency planning, and closure assurances. o The facility is proposed in a densely populated area close to residential neighborhoods, making the public review of the contingency plans and testing protocols even more relevant. There is no buffer between the proposed facility and other tenants located at that address and little buffer between the facility and surrounding community. o Uncertainty over the impacts of the proposed facility's innovative technology. This proposed system has not previously been used on medical waste.
Also influential in DEM's decision was the enactment of a law prohibiting new high-heat medical waste processing facilities from being sited in Rhode Island. Governor Dan McKee signed the bill into law July 9. "The Department believes that regardless of the deficiencies in the application outlined above, this law would prohibit the Department from issuing or granting a permit or license for this proposed facility," DEM wrote in its denial.
https://www.ri.gov/press/view/41604
My opinions.