Stop Sterigenics from Giving Georgians Cancer

Gov. Brian Kemp / Richard Dunn, Georgia EPD Director / Karen Hays, Georgia EPD Air Protection Chief

Medical sterilization company Sterigenics is releasing cancer-causing ethylene oxide emissions from their Smyrna facility and Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division is refusing to take action.

We are calling on the Georgia EPD and Gov. Brian Kemp to suspend operations at the Sterigenics plant until a full, independent investigation has been completed. Unless the company can prove they are not poisoning Georgians, Sterigenics should not be able to continue with "business as usual."

Ethylene oxide has been shown to “result in lung injury, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and shortness of breath, while long-term exposure has been linked to a variety of cancers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Sterigenics had to suspend operations at a similar plant in Willowbrook, Illinois after the EPA found that the plant was responsible for long-term cancer risks up to 10 times higher than what is considered acceptable. According to The Chicago Tribune, pollution from the Sterigenics plant increased the risk of cancer for people living up to 25 miles away from the plant.

For years, The Georgia EPD allowed Sterigenics to self-regulate and self-report its emissions. But since 2016, the company has stopped reporting altogether, while Georgians are left to worry about the deadly chemicals they’re forced to breathe.

Despite the EPA’s warnings about deadly ethylene oxide emissions, Georgia’s EPD and Gov. Brian Kemp are looking the other way and they’ve kept the public in the dark about these grave health risks. “The lack of transparency around this elevated health risk is unacceptable,” said State Senator Jen Jordan, who represents the affected parts of Cobb and Fulton Counties.

Don’t let Gov. Kemp and the EPD continue to let this deadly health risk go unchecked.

Demand that The Georgia Environmental Protection Division and Gov. Kemp stop Sterigenics from poisoning our air.

Sponsored by
Bg-action-wrapper
Athens-Clarke County, GA

To: Gov. Brian Kemp / Richard Dunn, Georgia EPD Director / Karen Hays, Georgia EPD Air Protection Chief
From: [Your Name]

We will not let you continue to look the other way while Sterigenics pollutes our air with cancer-causing chemicals, putting Georgians’ lives in danger.

We demand that The Georgia EPD and Gov. Kemp suspend Sterigenics’ operations until a full, independent investigation of air quality is complete and the air has been proven to be safe to breathe.