By Mylika Scatliffe
AFRO Women’s Health Writer
On May 28, the South Baltimore Community Land Trust (SBCLT), represented by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), filed a complaint on behalf of the residents in the southern Baltimore City where the Baltimore Refuse Energy Systems Company (BRESCO) is located.
Photo: Photo courtesy of Clean Air Baltimore
The complaint states the Baltimore City Department of Public Works’ ten-year solid waste management plan has not adequately prepared to decrease reliance on BRESCO for waste disposal. The health of residents in the neighborhoods in close proximity to BRESCO including Mt. Winans, Westport, Cherry Hill, Lakeland, Brooklyn and Curtis Bay have suffered disproportionately.
What is an incinerator?
An incinerator is a type of furnace designed for burning hazardous materials in a combustion chamber. Incineration is the process of burning hazardous materials at temperatures high enough to destroy contaminants.
A 2019 report from the Tishman Environment and Design Center at the New School in New York City revealed that 79 percent of the 73 incinerators remaining in the United States are in low-income communities and/or communities of color. Across the country, 4.4 million people live within three miles of an incinerator.
“You literally have these cities that have a fence to separate these operations from a nearby residential neighborhood. We use the term ‘fence line’ to define a community in close proximity to a particular hazard,” said Dr. Sacoby Wilson, professor with the Department of Global, Environmental and Occupational Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatics in the University of Maryland, College Park School of Public Health.
In addition to BRESCO, the largest medical waste incinerator in the country is also in southern Baltimore City. That makes two types of waste streams in that community.
“You have the kind of household, municipal waste burned at BRESCO, and waste from our local hospitals and academic institutions from around the nation being shipped into that community,” said Wilson.
Medical waste includes syringes, sterilizers, clothing worn by medical professionals (i.e., gloves and disposable gowns) and biological byproducts – all of which is burned at the medical waste incinerator.
“Combusting those materials results in one major byproduct – particulate matter. Particulate matter means dust in the air,” explained Wilson.
Particulate matter is basically respirable dust which immediately brings to mind air pollution and respiratory disease, but there are myriad other health repercussions.
“This exposure means particulate gets into the lungs and bloodstreams of the nearby residents, targeting various organs and creating a domino effect of asthma attacks, elevated blood pressure, strokes, more emergency room visits and hospitalizations.”
The health implications are far reaching for residents in a fence line community. The pollution from incinerators can contribute to kidney disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, fetal development and reproduction. This leads to poor maternal health outcomes like low birth weight, prematurity and birth defects.
Wilson explained how the emission from incinerators is one part of a very dangerous loop for public health.
“This is a major reason you see such high rates of asthma in communities of color; they disproportionately host sources of air pollution whether there are stationary sources like incinerators, or mobile sources,” Wilson said.
Mobile sources include, for example, the heavy truck traffic generated by transporting trash from within the city to the incinerator, and ash from the incinerator to the city-owned Quarantine Road Landfill.
According to the EPA, environmental justice is the “fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin or income, with respect to development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.”
Environmental justice represents equity in how environmental risks are visited upon marginalized populations. In the case of incinerators, impoverished communities and communities of color are falling short of having equitable access to quality environmental goods.
The part of Baltimore that hosts those incinerators is among the highest percentile in the state when it comes to environmental hazards.
“You’re basically seeing the worst rankings when it comes to environmental justice,” said Wilson.
In recognition that no single method waste management is appropriate for all materials and waste streams, the EPA has developed the non-hazardous materials and waste management hierarchy. The hierarchy places emphasis on methods such as reducing, reusing, recycling and composting as the most desirable and waste treatment and disposal as the least desirable for the environment.
Actions such as the complaint filed against Baltimore city, seek to gain a measure of environmental justice for the residents in south Baltimore.
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