Updated 11:40 a.m., Feb. 4 with comment from Veolia Environmental Services
SAUGET 鈥� U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is calling on the new acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to install multimetal emissions monitoring at Veolia Environmental Services鈥� incinerator.
The Illinois Democrat made her request to Jane Nishida in a letter last week, after another government agency determined it could not conduct a health consultation in the communities that surround Veolia鈥檚 plant.
Duckworth writes she asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services鈥� Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to conduct a consultation but the agency said it could not follow through because there isn鈥檛 recent air sampling data for metals collected in communities near the Veolia facility.
Without that data, the disease registry said it鈥檚 unable to determine how much metals people are inhaling or the associated health risks.
鈥淭his is deeply troubling. My constituents in Sauget deserve environmental justice,鈥� Duckworth wrote. 鈥淎TSDR鈥檚 inability to conduct a meaningful public health evaluation is wrong.鈥�
Duckworth鈥檚 specific request of EPA isn鈥檛 novel, said Ken Miller, an environmental scientist at the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic at Washington University鈥檚 law school.
He explained it鈥檚 in line with the standards the agency put forth in its issued in the in 2017.
It required Veolia to monitor and report the total concentrations of arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury that it emits.
鈥淭hat's the thing Senator Duckworth is now asking EPA to require them to put on,鈥� Miller said.
Veolia officials signaled they鈥檙e open to monitoring metal emissions from hazardous waste incinerators.
鈥淥nce the EPA approves the use of continuous multi-metal emissions monitors and they are adopted into the regulations to monitor metals, we will support their use at all commercial hazardous waste incinerators in the United States,鈥� the company said through a spokesperson.
EPA officials did not specifically say how they鈥檒l address Duckworth鈥檚 letter.
It鈥檚 unclear how the EPA will respond to Duckworth鈥檚 request, especially since Veolia petitioned for the permit to be reviewed by the Environmental Appeals Board, he said.
Veolia and EPA later came to a settlement in 2018, which altered the permit to , something the company fought hard for, said Liz Hubertz, director of WashU鈥檚 interdisciplinary environmental clinic.
Hubertz said the EPA could reopen Veolia鈥檚 permit, which was officially issued in 2019, and add the monitoring requirements back in, but she added that isn鈥檛 likely to happen.
鈥淚f there hadn鈥檛 been the appeals, they might,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 think they鈥檒l want to go back on something that has been fought to that level and appealed above them.鈥�
Hubertz said it鈥檚 unlikely Veolia鈥檚 Clean Air Act operating permit will be changed until it鈥檚 up for renewal in 2024.
What can the EPA do?
The EPA could install ambient air monitors in the surrounding communities to collect some data on heavy metals concentrations in the air, Hubertz said.
鈥淚t wouldn鈥檛 be on Veolia鈥檚 smokestack, but it would monitor the air in the area,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 need Veolia鈥檚 permission to do that.鈥�
These kinds of monitors could provide some answers to questions of what鈥檚 in the air in Sauget and East St. Louis, communities closest to Veolia鈥檚 plant.
Maime Cosey, 80, lives in East St. Louis and has dealt with the various smells from the Sauget incinerator for nearly a decade. She said the plant isn鈥檛 burning materials as frequently since the pandemic gripped the region.
鈥淚t has gotten somewhat better, but the intensity of the odor is still the same,鈥� Cosey said. 鈥淲e stay indoors. We don鈥檛 go outside. And if we do, we hurry up and get in our car and get away.鈥�
Cosey said she believes living near the incinerator has caused health problems for her three great-grandchildren, whom she cares for. Her great-grandson has developed asthma and her great-granddaughter has panic attacks when the plant burns material.
鈥淭hat bothers me a lot that I can鈥檛 control that,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think our government should take a hard look at what we鈥檙e doing to low-income families and people of color.鈥�
Duckworth鈥檚 letter is encouraging to Cosey, but she said she wishes other officials would take steps to ensure environmental justice.
The Biden-Harris administration is taking steps to integrate environmental justice into the way it makes decisions across many agencies, an EPA spokesperson said.
Miller said at the very least, there should be some kind of air monitoring happening at or around the Veolia plant.
鈥淲hether it鈥檚 direct monitoring of their emissions, or monitoring of ambient air in the community,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淛ust to give the residents who live nearby some peace of mind because that鈥檚 all they鈥檝e been asking for years now.鈥�
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