SMYRNA, Ga. — As concerns about chemical emissions from a trio of medical sterilization plants have swirled around the Atlanta area for much of the year, a Georgia congressman is now bringing federal force to the issue.
The plants, which emit the chemical ethylene oxide - a gas that can lead to cancer over many years of exposure, primarily in occupational settings - have faced sharp scrutiny from the communities they operate in: Covington, Madison and Cobb County.
In Cobb County, the plant run by Sterigenics is currently closed until they update their emissions process. One run by BD in Covington also closed for a week under a state mandate, but has since reopened.
On Wednesday, Republican Rep. Jody Hice of Georgia's 10th District, which includes a large swath of urban and rural territory between Atlanta and Augusta, announced the forming of a bipartisan task force. That group would focus on ethylene oxide emissions, according to a release, "urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to act."
The commission was formed in partnership with Democrat Brad Schneider of Illinois, where Sterigenics has also faced outcry over a similar plant there.
“The well-being of our constituents must always be our first priority – and it is a responsibility that extends across party lines and political ideologies,” Hice said in a release.
“Our Congressional districts face the threat of ethylene oxide emissions, and acting as individuals, many of us have already called upon the EPA to carry out its duty to properly regulate this toxic chemical," he added. "By joining together in this Bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Ethylene Oxide, we multiply the strength of our voices to better serve our constituents and ensure their safety."
Hice is a co-sponsor of a House bill, H.R. 1152, which would introduce more stringent regulations on ethylene oxide emissions.
Those regulations would include requiring the EPA to issue strict new emissions standards for plants and requiring the agency to notify the public no more than 30 days after it learns that the standards have been violated.
The task force includes representatives from "half a dozen communities from three states affected" by ethylene oxide, the release says, and also includes Georgia Reps. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican, and Hank Johnson and David Scott, Democrats.
MORE HEADLINES