Controversial Medical Waste
Burner Closes
Burner Closes
By Susan Fuller, Staffwriter, Alameda Journal
December 11, 2001
December 11, 2001
The show was about the racially motivated
murder of James Byrd, Jr. and how Jasper
was forever changed by the crime.
Life in the projects
Wade's experiences were not much
different from those lifetime-Alameda
residents and panel member Vickie Smith
experienced in the city. She grew up in
one of the poorest sections of the city, the
Estuary projects, which have now been
torn down.
She said she was so segregated from the
rest of Alameda community, she never
even ventured into town until she was an
adolescent. Oakland was considered her
home base.
"We were segregated in the city with the
project and in the housing itself," she
said. The poorest Caucasian families
were housed in one section, the Asians in
the other, African Americans in still
another section.
Several people who spoke said they
remember when members of the Klu Klux
Klan marched through the city.
Members of the Alameda City Council
were split on the notion that racism is
alive and well in the city.
Councilmember Al De Witt said he
believes Wade's statement that Alameda
is one of the most racist cities in America
is incorrect.
Vice Mayor Tony Daysog said racism
existed in the city in the decades following
the 1950s has not disappeared. He said
a tragedy like the murder in Jasper can
happen on the Island.
"We need to be realistic," he said. "It can
happen here if we are silent about what
happens in this community."
Both the panelists and the community
said the city needs racial parity within
schools, neighborhoods, and personal
relationships.
murder of James Byrd, Jr. and how Jasper
was forever changed by the crime.
Life in the projects
Wade's experiences were not much
different from those lifetime-Alameda
residents and panel member Vickie Smith
experienced in the city. She grew up in
one of the poorest sections of the city, the
Estuary projects, which have now been
torn down.
She said she was so segregated from the
rest of Alameda community, she never
even ventured into town until she was an
adolescent. Oakland was considered her
home base.
"We were segregated in the city with the
project and in the housing itself," she
said. The poorest Caucasian families
were housed in one section, the Asians in
the other, African Americans in still
another section.
Several people who spoke said they
remember when members of the Klu Klux
Klan marched through the city.
Members of the Alameda City Council
were split on the notion that racism is
alive and well in the city.
Councilmember Al De Witt said he
believes Wade's statement that Alameda
is one of the most racist cities in America
is incorrect.
Vice Mayor Tony Daysog said racism
existed in the city in the decades following
the 1950s has not disappeared. He said
a tragedy like the murder in Jasper can
happen on the Island.
"We need to be realistic," he said. "It can
happen here if we are silent about what
happens in this community."
Both the panelists and the community
said the city needs racial parity within
schools, neighborhoods, and personal
relationships.
longer watch rising plumes of smoke from
the incinerator on High Street and wonder
what they are breathing.
The purchase of Integrated Environmental
Systems, the incinerator operator, by
Stericycle, a nationwide medical waste
disposal company based in Lake Forest,
Illinois was announced Friday. NorCal,
the parent company to IES, is closing the
499 High Street facility. It will continue to
hold the lease and maintain the property
but will no longer be in the medical
disposal business.
Stericycle operates three autoclave steam
sterilization facilities in California, in
Fresno, Los Angeles and San Diego and
has a collection facility in San Leandro.
The company is in the permitting phase
for another autoclave in San Leandro.
The incinerator has been the target of
environmental groups for four years. San
Francisco-based Greenaction led the
charge, including public meetings, picket
lines and demonstrators chaining
themselves to the IES fence.
"With this victory we've not only silenced
the incinerators but have ended
incineration in the State of California," said
Bradley Angel of Greenaction. The IES
incienrator was the last on operating in
the state.
Waste from IES' customers that can be
legally trated by steam will be transported
to Fresno, according to chief operating
officer Richard Kogler. The waste that
must be incinerated wioll go to Stericycle
facilities in Arizona and Utah, a practice
that eill displease the environmental
groups.
the incinerator on High Street and wonder
what they are breathing.
The purchase of Integrated Environmental
Systems, the incinerator operator, by
Stericycle, a nationwide medical waste
disposal company based in Lake Forest,
Illinois was announced Friday. NorCal,
the parent company to IES, is closing the
499 High Street facility. It will continue to
hold the lease and maintain the property
but will no longer be in the medical
disposal business.
Stericycle operates three autoclave steam
sterilization facilities in California, in
Fresno, Los Angeles and San Diego and
has a collection facility in San Leandro.
The company is in the permitting phase
for another autoclave in San Leandro.
The incinerator has been the target of
environmental groups for four years. San
Francisco-based Greenaction led the
charge, including public meetings, picket
lines and demonstrators chaining
themselves to the IES fence.
"With this victory we've not only silenced
the incinerators but have ended
incineration in the State of California," said
Bradley Angel of Greenaction. The IES
incienrator was the last on operating in
the state.
Waste from IES' customers that can be
legally trated by steam will be transported
to Fresno, according to chief operating
officer Richard Kogler. The waste that
must be incinerated wioll go to Stericycle
facilities in Arizona and Utah, a practice
that eill displease the environmental
groups.
"California should be responsible for its
own waste," Angel said. He has talked to
community groups near the Utah and
Arizona incinerators.
Stericycle is committed to reducing the
amount of waste that is incinerated. In the
past two years, hospitals have cut their
incineration from 25 percent of total waste
to the mid-teens, Kogler said. Stericycle
works with hospitals to train staff to
separate waste, much like home recycling
programs, he said.
"I'm not sure how you can comply with the
law and not provide incineration service,"
said Kogler.
The enviornmentalists' overt glee about
closure is tempered by the layoffs of all
IES employees, whcih number between
50 and 70, depending on the source.
"We have filled the positions we have
available (with former IES employees),"
Kogler said. He understands that some
have gone to work for NorCal. he didn't
know numbers or locations because
hiring was done by the local managers.
Councilman Tony Daysog, who has
frequently marched on High Street is
taking a "wait and see" approach.
"IES was a company that had numerous
violations and was fined to the tune of
almost $1 million," he said. "It's not
altogether a bad thing that this site is
closing."
"For environmentalists, it's an important
victory, basically the end of incineration of
medical waste in California," he said.
"Let's see if we can get the jobs. That's
the best of all worlds."
own waste," Angel said. He has talked to
community groups near the Utah and
Arizona incinerators.
Stericycle is committed to reducing the
amount of waste that is incinerated. In the
past two years, hospitals have cut their
incineration from 25 percent of total waste
to the mid-teens, Kogler said. Stericycle
works with hospitals to train staff to
separate waste, much like home recycling
programs, he said.
"I'm not sure how you can comply with the
law and not provide incineration service,"
said Kogler.
The enviornmentalists' overt glee about
closure is tempered by the layoffs of all
IES employees, whcih number between
50 and 70, depending on the source.
"We have filled the positions we have
available (with former IES employees),"
Kogler said. He understands that some
have gone to work for NorCal. he didn't
know numbers or locations because
hiring was done by the local managers.
Councilman Tony Daysog, who has
frequently marched on High Street is
taking a "wait and see" approach.
"IES was a company that had numerous
violations and was fined to the tune of
almost $1 million," he said. "It's not
altogether a bad thing that this site is
closing."
"For environmentalists, it's an important
victory, basically the end of incineration of
medical waste in California," he said.
"Let's see if we can get the jobs. That's
the best of all worlds."
| "It's an important victory, basically the end of incineration of medical waste. " Vice Mayor Tony Daysog |
Unav Opal Wade opened a floodgate of
emotion when she told a national
television audience that Alameda was the
most racist city she had ever lived in,
prompting a sensitive Saturday afternoon
forum about race and how the city deals
with it. Sponsored by the Alameda
Multi-Cultural Community Center and the
College of Alameda, the forum featured
six panelists from a variety of ethnic
backgrounds who discussed how they felt
racism in Alameda affected them.
"I do know racism still exists and we have
felt it as a family . . . this coldness and
exclusion," said community activist
Rebecca Holder, who is of American
Indian descent.
Called An Individual Problem
Yet panel member Hector Corrales, a
professor at the College of Alameda, said
the people of Alameda are living in
"Disney;and" compared to the bigotry and
racism people around the world face in
their home countries.
Corrales grew up in East Los Angeles, the
son of a day laborer and a seamstress.
He has lived in Alameda for several years,
but said the racism he faces is not woven
into the city or the college, but exists
instead on an individual level.
"My experience with racism in the College
of Alameda is almost nill," he said. "Have
I experienced racism at the College of
Alameda? You bet. it's been in
individuals, and I ahve experienced that
everywhere.
The forum was then open to audience
members, some of whom shared their
own battles with discrimination just for
being different.
Wade's daughter Margena Wade told
audience of nearly 60 residents about
how her family was threatened by
neighbors when she grew up in the 1960s.
She said her siblings were assaulted and
taunted in Alameda schools nearly every
day.
Her mother, who now lives in Texas,
appeared on a panel for a PBS television
documentary called "America in Black and
White: Jasper, Texas."
emotion when she told a national
television audience that Alameda was the
most racist city she had ever lived in,
prompting a sensitive Saturday afternoon
forum about race and how the city deals
with it. Sponsored by the Alameda
Multi-Cultural Community Center and the
College of Alameda, the forum featured
six panelists from a variety of ethnic
backgrounds who discussed how they felt
racism in Alameda affected them.
"I do know racism still exists and we have
felt it as a family . . . this coldness and
exclusion," said community activist
Rebecca Holder, who is of American
Indian descent.
Called An Individual Problem
Yet panel member Hector Corrales, a
professor at the College of Alameda, said
the people of Alameda are living in
"Disney;and" compared to the bigotry and
racism people around the world face in
their home countries.
Corrales grew up in East Los Angeles, the
son of a day laborer and a seamstress.
He has lived in Alameda for several years,
but said the racism he faces is not woven
into the city or the college, but exists
instead on an individual level.
"My experience with racism in the College
of Alameda is almost nill," he said. "Have
I experienced racism at the College of
Alameda? You bet. it's been in
individuals, and I ahve experienced that
everywhere.
The forum was then open to audience
members, some of whom shared their
own battles with discrimination just for
being different.
Wade's daughter Margena Wade told
audience of nearly 60 residents about
how her family was threatened by
neighbors when she grew up in the 1960s.
She said her siblings were assaulted and
taunted in Alameda schools nearly every
day.
Her mother, who now lives in Texas,
appeared on a panel for a PBS television
documentary called "America in Black and
White: Jasper, Texas."
Alameda Forum
Examines Racism
Examines Racism
By Laura Casey, Staffwriter, Oakland Tribune
March 9, 2003
March 9, 2003
"It can happen
here if we are
silent about
what happens in
this community"
Vice Mayor Tony Daysog
here if we are
silent about
what happens in
this community"
Vice Mayor Tony Daysog
| ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
