South Memphis plant that used toxic chemical closes
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A plant that used toxic chemicals to sterilize medical equipment in South Memphis is now closed, and community members who stood their ground were cheering Tuesday.
Memphis Community Against Pollution, along with residents living near Sterilization Services of Tennessee, celebrated the business closing it doors.
“We are here because Sterilization Services of Tennessee has been polluting the lungs and extracting life from our community for over 40 years,” an MCAP representative said.
South Memphis plant using hazardous chemical to close, company says
The facility, and its use of ethylene oxide to sanitize medical equipment, was at the center of public hearings conducted in South Memphis by the EPA.
“Ethylene oxide is invisible, it’s odorless. It’s an invisible noose around the neck of our community,” said KeShaun Pearson, President of MCAP.
The EPA, which has said the chemical is more toxic than first believed, studied cancer rates near the facility over two decades and found an unusually high number of residents with stomach cancer.
South Memphis residents may face danger from chemical, EPA says
Tuesday’s announcement that the facility would close is bittersweet for Bobbie Jackson, whose mother Lettie White died from cancer just days before this celebration.
“Gonna miss my mom. But she was a saved lady, and I thank God for her,” Jackson said.
Pearson says it appears the firm chose not to install equipment that would monitor and reduce ethylene oxide emissions, announcing instead it would close the South Memphis facility April 30.
“They chose to move forward with continuing to pollute our air,” Pearson said. “They won’t do it here in Memphis, but they’ll do it somewhere.”
We reached out to the EPA to see what would happen to the property now that it is closed. We are waiting for a response.
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