
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994                    TAG: 9406090483 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: D3    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940609                                 LENGTH: VIRGINIA BEACH

COMPANY SEEKS APPROVAL FOR MEDICAL WASTE PLANT

{LEAD} A local company wants to build a medical waste incinerator on London Bridge Road that burns syringes, bandages and blood, then melts the ash into innocuous glass beads for use in ceramic tile and asphalt.

Eastern Regional Environmental Management is seeking permits from the city and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to build a $10 million facility at Oceana West Industrial Park. The plant would handle asbestos as well as medical waste.

{REST} One other commercial medical waste incinerator already operates in the area.

``We put together the best system we could find technologically with the best record for emissions,'' said Howard Cruz, owner of Eastern Regional Environmental Management.

Cruz said that the emissions from his smokestack would be far below state and federal standards for incinerators. The smoke would be colorless and odorless, he said.

Cruz said his company will take the resulting glass pellets and recycle them into ceramic tile and ``glassphalt,'' asphalt made with glass.

Eastern Regional Environmental Management, which would employ 30 to 40 workers, passed its first hurdle Wednesday, winning approval from the Planning Commission on an 8-2 vote.

The company also must win City Council approval before applying for state permits for handling and treating medical waste and asbestos, for operating an incinerator and for air emissions.

The company would bid for contracts to handle waste from hospitals, doctors offices, urgent-care centers, dentist offices and veterinary clinics. The facility would be taking waste from medical operations up to 400 miles away.

Cruz estimates that 100 tons of medical waste is generated each day in South Hampton Roads. Sixty percent of it is paper and cloth products, 25 percent plastics, 10 percent surgical or potentially infectious waste and 5 percent glass.

Cruz said he will not accept chemotherapy waste, radioactive waste or body parts.

Waste would be transported to the incinerator in special refrigerated trucks operated by the environmental management company.

by CNB