Order stops acceptance of medical waste

Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore.

County commissioners gave final approval Thursday to an order to stop an incinerator in Oregon from receiving medical waste until procedures are in place to ensure no fetal tissue is burned to generate power.

While taking the action, Marion County commissioners Sam Brentano and Janet Carlson said they were horrified to learn that the Marion County Resource Recovery Facility in rural Brooks might be burning medical waste that includes fetal tissue to generate electricity. Both strongly oppose abortions.

“We’re going to get to the bottom of it,” Carlson said. “I want to know who knew, when they knew, how long they had known this was going on.”

Brentano, however, noted that the county ordinance that sets the parameters for what can be accepted at the waste-to-energy plant allows for all human tissue.

“No rule or law has been broken, but there’s an ethical standard that’s been broken,” he said.

The decision came about a month after reporters in the United Kingdom discovered that health authorities there used fetal remains to generate power at medical facilities. The Department of Health quickly banned the practice.

Jill Stueck, a Covanta spokeswoman, said the company is cooperating with the suspension, and it does not seek out the waste that mortified commissioners.

“No one is saying bring us fetal tissue,” Stueck said.