Two weeks before a city-mandated deadline that requires Evanston Hospital to close its medical waste incinerator, officials expressed optimism Wednesday that the condemned burner would be shut down on time.
The high spirits come after the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency swiftly approved a permit Tuesday night allowing the hospital to retrofit the incinerator’s boiler unit with natural gas-fired burners.
The hospital, 2650 Ridge Ave., recently found new, pre-built burners in stock, bypassing the usual process of having to wait for new ones to be manufactured — a process that could have taken six to eight weeks.
“Because of these two developments, we are now more optimistic,” said MaryAnn Lando, a spokeswoman for Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. “We have always been working toward the Oct. 15 deadline.”
The burners will be able to make up for the energy lost by shutting down the incinerator. Lando also said that the hospital is working with an outside vendor that specializes in medical waste disposal and is retraining employees to handle new guidelines.
Lando credited Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and state agencies for helping the hospital move quickly on the closure. The Illinois EPA approved the permit for the burners only 11 days after receiving the application. Normally, Lando said, it would have taken 30 to 60 days.
In a statement Wednesday, Blagojevich praised Evanston Hospital for its efforts in closing the incinerator.
“Evanston Hospital is the first to step up and do the right thing and is setting a great example for other hospitals to follow,” he said. “I’m pleased to see that Illinois EPA and the hospital have worked quickly on the changes necessary to keep the incinerator’s heating capacity.”
If the hospital fails to meet the deadline, it could face monetary fines on a daily basis until the incinerator is fully closed.
The Oct. 15 deadline was approved by Evanston City Council on Sept. 13. Hospital officials presented a plan at the meeting that would close the incinerator by Dec. 31. At the time, the hospital wasn’t sure that it would be able to receive both the necessary permits and infrastructure needed to close the incinerator sooner, Lando said.
“Our neighbors have voiced their concerns about our timetable for voluntary shutdown, and the City Council has supported them,” said Ray Grady, president of Evanston Hospital, in a press release Sept. 16. “Our job now is to focus our efforts on shutting down the incinerator as quickly as possible while still maintaining the safety of our patients, visitors and employees.”
Lando said she didn’t foresee any problems with the incinerator’s closure, especially since Evanston Northwestern Healthcare’s other two hospitals operate just fine without them.
Aldermen banned medical waste incinerators from Evanston due to a grassroots campaign by residents surrounding the hospital. Residents said that the incinerator, which has been operating for the past 15 years, released harmful pollutants into the atmosphere and posed health risks.
Reach Mike Cherney at [email protected].
