RIDEM Denies License For Medical Waste Plant In West Warwick

PROVIDENCE, RI — The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management today denied a facility license for a controversial medical waste treatment facility at 1600 Division Road in West Warwick.

The department "found certain specific areas where the application was deficient," RIDEM Acting Director Terrence Gray, P.E., wrote in his highly-anticipated decision. In mid-April, RIDEM held a public hearing on the proposal, which a launched a 90-day decision-making period that ended today.

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Rhode Island law requires the department "to give great weight to detrimental impacts on the surrounding community," wrote Gray in his four-page permit decision. The RIDEM leader added that documents and information not provided by the applicants hampered the ability of officials to assess certain issues.

"The fact that this unique technology has not been extensively demonstrated in the United States leads the Department to agree that in order to fully assess the potential detrimental impacts of the facility on surrounding communities, those documents and information must be included as part of the public review."

Medrecycler-RI, Inc. proposes to build a pyrolysis plant where up to 70 tons per day of medical waste would be processed at high temperature in a zero-oxygen environment to produce energy and various byproducts.

Terrence Gray, Acting Director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, speaks at a recent event. (Mary Serreze/Patch)

Neighbors and environmental groups have waged a battle against the MedRecycler-RI proposal. Attorney General Peter Neronha had called for greater review of the technology. And legislation to ban such high-heat medical waste plants was recently passed by the General Assembly.

The denial decision discusses the recently-passed legislation signed into law by Gov. Dan McKee on July 9. It says that regardless of deficiencies in the MedRecycler-RI application, RIDEM believes that the law would prohibit the state agency from granting a permit or license for the proposed facility.

MedRecycler-RI is headed by Nicolas B. Campanella, chairman and CEO of Sun Pacific Power Corp of 215 Gordons Corner Road in Manalapan, New Jersey.

The decision was made without prejudice, meaning that deficiencies in the application can be addressed, and a new application can be submitted. Any new application would have to undergo full department review and public notice, Gray wrote.

Attorney General Peter Neronha on Thursday said state regulators made the right decision:

“The Department of Environmental Management made the right decision in denying the permit application for the proposed medical waste treatment facility in West Warwick, and I am grateful for their close review of a proposal that would have impacted many Rhode Islanders.

“Several months ago, my Office expressed our concerns about the significant environmental and public health impacts that the waste treatment facility presented to surrounding communities.

This decision is an apt example of the benefit of having a comprehensive state regulatory process that includes robust public input.”

Sen. Bridget Valverde and Rep. Justine Caldwell, who sponsored the legislation to ban high-heat waste processing facilities in the state, expressed their views on Twitter:

So proud to represent East Greenwich with @Justine4RI and partner on legislation that protects all Rhode Islanders. Big thanks to my colleagues in the @RISenate for their support of the High Heat Waste Facility Act! No new medical waste burning facilities in RI! https://t.co/jA32tLawqG
— Bridget Valverde (@bridget4ri) July 9, 2021

Patch has reached out to a spokesman for MedRecycler-Ri seeking comment.