EPA Proposes Sharp Cutbacks in Toxins From Incinerators

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed new rules Thursday requiring sharp reductions in the output of dioxin, heavy metals and airborne toxins from municipal incinerators nationwide.

The rules, which would take effect a year from now, are designed to achieve compliance with the 1990 Clean Air Act, which called on the EPA to place stricter controls on stationary sources of pollution.

The recommendations would require incinerators to install more sophisticated pollution prevention equipment and thereby cut overall output of toxic releases by 99%.

In all, the proposal calls for an annual reduction of 145,000 tons of toxic pollutants from incinerators, including lead, mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.

The rules would also require substantial reductions in emissions of dioxin, a toxic compound that is emitted from incinerators, as well as numerous industrial processes, and winds up in the food chain. That recommendation is consistent with a draft EPA report, leaked to the media this summer, that warned of the dangers dioxin poses to human health and cited incinerators as a major source of U.S. dioxin emissions. The emissions are a particular problem at medical waste incinerators, EPA sources said.

Incineration is a popular form of waste disposal across the United States. About 16% of all municipal waste is burned, compared to 67% that is buried in landfills.