Have questions for the EPA about carcinogenic air pollution? - News-Press

Have questions for the EPA about carcinogenic air pollution?

EPA to give public update on carcinogenic pollution from Fort Myers sterilization plant
Amy Bennett Williams

For the first time since it revealed a worrisome zone of air pollution in a Fort Myers neighborhood that includes three schools, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will host an in-person update Wednesday.

The agency will explain how emissions have changed since American Contract Systems' medical equipment sterilization facility installed scrubbers in July.

In June, people learned the plant had released carcinogenic ethylene oxide gas unchecked for 12 years – the first most had heard of it. The agency had long known of the potential dangers and did low-key monitoring, but in 2016 it reviewed the risks and found it "more toxic than previously understood."

Nearby neighborhoods may have an elevated lifetime cancer risk, which "gradually increases as you get closer," according to the EPA. Officials tried to alert anyone within two miles of the Adelmo Lane plant about the meeting, as well as those who'd expressed interest, said an EPA spokesman.

Within a mile of the facility: Evangelical Christian School, Chico's FAS headquarters and Hideaway Country Club.

Official: Agency taking carcinogenic pollution risk seriously

The EPA began the process of changing the rules around the chemical's handling in a process that's supposed to allow for public comment. Yet in Fort Myers, no one was notified until less than a week before the input deadline.

That's because the Fort Myers plant's emissions caught the agency by surprise, said Jeaneanne Gettle, acting director of EPA’s eight-state Region 4, at the time. “We were not aware of this initially, but we are now." The agency is concerned about the risk, which she characterized as high. "We are taking this risk seriously (and) will continue working until the risk is reduced.”

'Beyond troubling': EPA faces outrage over Fort Myers plant's cancer-causing pollution

More: 'No safe level': Fort Myers plant pollutes air with a carcinogenic chemical, EPA warns

Wednesday's meeting will offer a progress report, said EPA spokesman James Pinckney, as well as a chance to question officials directly. Now that COVID restrictions have eased, he said it was a chance for the agency to meet face-to-face with citizens. Some 2,500 flyers went out via the U.S. Postal Service and email, he said.

If you go

The EPA will host a public meeting on ethylene oxide from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel,12600 University Drive, Fort Myers. For more information, visit www.epa.gov/fl/fort-myers-fl-american-contract-systems-fort-myers-facil…. A recording will be available online at the website above after the meeting.