

By Donald L. Hassig

During the years that the Onondaga County incinerator has been in operation, a substantial body of scientific knowledge has accumulated that serves as a basis for the conclusion that exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) imposes more than an acceptable quantity of cancer risk upon the average consumer of animal fats. POPs are contaminants of all animal fat and accumulate at the highest levels in the bodies of organisms at the top of food chains.

Consideringthis hazard, it would be most beneficial to the public health for Onondaga County to begin disposing of its garbage in a way that does not create POPs. The dioxin emissions of the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Facility, a municipal solid waste incinerator in Jamesville, add POPs to the environment and the food supply at a time when POPs contamination already is above a safe level.

Government entities — including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the state Department of Health and the Onondaga County Public Health Department — have failed to use existing scientific knowledge to minimize the cancer risk imposed upon Onondaga County residents by the operation of the incinerator, which is permitted by the DEC under the Clean Air Act.

In attempting to hold government accountable, Cancer Action NY has filed formal complaints against former director of EPA’s National Center for Environmental Assessment, Dr. Peter Preuss; DEC Division of Air Resources toxicologist, Dr. Thomas Gentile; and the state Department of Health. They have ignored the existing scientific knowledge on the subject of dioxin exposure cancer risk.

Cancer Action NY alleges that as director of the National Center for Environmental Assessment, the lead agency on the EPA dioxin reassessment, Preuss delayed finalization of the EPA dioxin reassessment. The complaint was filed on May 21, 2010, in the Office of the EPA Inspector General. There has been no response.

The complaint against DEC toxicologist Gentile was submitted to New York State’s Office of the Inspector General. Cancer Action NY alleges that Gentile has made possible the continuing operation of the Onondaga County incinerator.

Gentile madethe decision not to produce a current health risk assessment for the Onondaga County incinerator despite the fact that the most recent assessment was produced in the early 1990s. Scientific knowledge on dioxin exposure cancer risk expanded greatly during the late 1990s and 2000s. The only reasonable path for renewal of the operating permit of the Onondaga County incinerator is to first produce a current health risk assessment.

William Hebert, chief investigator for the state Office of the Inspector General, wrote to Cancer Action NY stating that our complaint would be addressed by the DEC management process. After one contact with DEC staff, we heard nothing more. We recently contacted the OIG, only to learn that the complaint had been closed and no action would be taken.

Cancer Action NY filed a complaint against the state Health Department in September. The complaint alleges that the DOH has deliberately chosen not to warn state residents of the more than acceptable quantity of cancer risk imposed by exposure to POPs.

It is the belief of Cancer Action NY that the decision not to warn was made due to the influence of corporate stakeholders in the food production and manufacturing sectors of the economy. The inspector general has responded by calling upon Health Commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah to address the matters alleged in the complaint.

In response, DOH cited a series of letters to Cancer Action NY in response to requests for public education on the subject of POPs exposure reduction. The letters contain only a promise of future public education on POPs exposure disease risk. That complaint has now been closed, and Cancer Action NY just filed a new complaint with the state Commission on Public Integrity.

This is bad government. Cancer Action NY will not stop in its effort to hold EPA, DEC and DOH accountable.

Donald L. Hassig, of Colton, is director of Cancer Action NY.