January 20, 2021

Via Email
Mr. Jae Lee
Project Manager
U.S. EPA Region 5
Land, Chemicals and Redevelopment Division
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, Illinois 60604-3590

Re: Draft Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Permit for Heritage Thermal Services, Inc. (OHD 980 613 541)

Dear Mr. Lee:

The undersigned individuals submit these comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s draft Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permit authorizing Heritage Thermal Services, Inc. (Heritage) to operate a hazardous waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio.

We are residents of East Liverpool and the surrounding area. For three decades, we, our families, our friends and our neighbors have suffered the impacts of Heritage’s pollution. According to the Ohio Department of Health, East Liverpool has a “strikingly high cancer rate.” Toxic emissions from facilities like Heritage contribute to and exacerbate the community’s increased cancer risk.. To make matters worse, we know that our exposure to toxic pollution from Heritage could have been reduced had Heritage complied with its permits. Yet, a recent complaint filed by the Department of Justice alleges that Heritage has violated its Clean Air Act permit hundreds of times, releasing harmful chemicals into our surrounding community with its “systemic” violations of its permits.

In recent years, the problems associated with the Heritage incinerator have been exacerbated by its large-scale incineration of per- and polyfluroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), a highly toxic and persistent class of chemicals. Heritage is incinerating PFAS even though EPA has acknowledged that it does not know if PFAS can be incinerated safely. By its own estimates, Heritage accepts more than 1,000 tons of PFAS-containing waste at its East Liverpool incinerator each year, yet Heritage admits that it “does not track PFAS compounds” and “does not have special operating parameters for processing PFAS.” Nearly a year ago, EPA advised the East Liverpool City Council that it “share[s] the council’s concern over the incinerat[ion] of PFAS waste.” However it has taken no steps to protect our community from this dangerous practice.

When issuing any permit under RCRA, EPA has an obligation to impose terms and conditions “necessary to protect human health and the environment.” EPA cannot ignore the very real threats that our community faces as a result of the incineration of PFAS at Heritage, and the rampant failure of Heritage to comply with its federal permits. We urge EPA at a minimum to include terms in Heritage’s renewal RCRA permit that prohibit Heritage from incinerating PFAS-containing waste in order to protect our community from the serious threat to our health. In addition, we urge EPA to adopt stringent monitoring and reporting requirements under any renewal permit issued to Heritage so that the community can track and report any violations.

Our community is a quintessential environmental justice community, but despite promises from past administrations that they would focus on concerns of disproportionately impacted communities, like East Liverpool, we have not gotten the attention or relief we need to protect our families’ health. Incoming-President Biden has promised that environmental justice will be a cornerstone of his environmental agenda. We implore the Biden Administration’s EPA to take our concerns seriously and protect us from the dangerous Heritage incinerator using its authority under RCRA and any other applicable laws.

Respectfully submitted,