Firm has 30 days to get rid of tons of medical waste
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Staff Writer
The state Department of Health has ordered a medical waste disposal company to get rid of more than 30 tons of accumulated medical waste within 30 days or face up to a $10,000 fine for each offense each day thereafter.
The letter of warning was issued to Hawai'i Medical Vitrification, which must process or remove the excess waste from its facility at Campbell Industrial Park, said Steven Chang, head of the DOH Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch.
The company also was ordered to stop accepting any more solid waste until the amount at the site falls within permitted levels and to immediately provide adequate storage capacity and refrigeration for all untreated infectious waste left overnight.
Under its permit the company can store up to a ton of refrigerated pathological waste and 3 1/2 tons of infectious waste at its premises, Chang said.
"Our focus is to get them back into compliance," Chang said.
Company president and CEO Samuel Y.K. Liu said the Health Department request was reasonable and he felt confident that the company could meet the requirements on time.
The company will send 3,200 containers to another processor beginning Monday and expects to be within the 30-day period, Liu said.
Members of a Joint Legislative Task Force on Waste Management and Recycling inspected the company on Thursday and expressed concern about the stockpiled medical waste, some of which was sitting outside in the sun.
Company officials said Thursday that Hawai'i Medical Vitrification had about 8,000 containers of accumulated waste, or about 30 tons.
However, the Health Department estimates that the company has 13,000 containers of waste, or about 39 tons waiting to be processed.
Most of the waste is stored in sealed plastic buckets. But some waste, including discarded needles, is stored in cardboard containers.
Chang said the Health Department has been investigating the situation since receiving a complaint in October.
Violations discovered so far include failing to notify the DOH when it was not operating properly and storing waste in excess of its 4 1/2-ton limit, Chang said, noting that the investigation is continuing.
The violations were the first for the 2-year-old company.
The company has said it has been processing material for about three weeks after suffering a setback caused in part by a new federal ban on imports of heat-conducting electrodes needed to disintegrate the waste. The company uses extreme heat to disintegrate waste and turn the resulting molecular remnants into glass, metal and gas.
Sen. Melodie Aduja, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku), who heads the legislative task force, said the situation underscores the need for better monitoring of permits.
"This is a blatant example of where oversight and enforcement need to be strengthened," she said.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
