A well attended meeting presented by Waste Solutions LLC was held at the Werth Manor in Commerce City. The outreach meeting topic of discussion was a proposed Medical Waste Treatment Facility that would be located on Brighton Blvd. The location of this facility is in unincorporated Adams County, but is also in the growth boundaries of the city of Commerce City. Michael Magee, the owner of Waste Solutions wanted to hold the outreach meeting to address any misconceptions and answer any questions the crowd presented.
Some of the concerns residents had included, the fact there was no sidewalk included in the proposed plans. This was considered to be important due to the fact that Adams County School District #14 will be having a school bus pickup/drop-off location at 8431 Brighton Blvd. The proposed facility would be located at 8600 Brighton Blvd., thus, putting the children of Adams #14 in a potential hazardous situation. Further, it was stated that the traffic impact would be an increase of 60 additional road trips to the area. Although, this is only a 1.5% increase of the current traffic totals.
The permit would allow the facility to open operations at 4am. But it was explained by Magee, that this would not be the norm, this is only there to satisfy the needs of an unusual circumstance that can arise in the industry.
Other comments brought out by residents were issues of concerns regarding spillage, traffic on 80th Avenue, declining property values, liability of Waste Solutions LLC, crashing of the trucks utilized by the facility, security of the facility, human error issues that can result in unwanted events, and the proximity of the facility to residential housing.
Magee wanted to make it clear that this is not a disposal facility and there is no hazardous or radioactive materials onsite. All the waste is unloaded and processed indoors which is heavily regulated by CDPHE, DOT, and Tri-County Health Department.
The basic process is to steam the waste material in an autoclave for 30 minutes at a temperature of 250 to 270 degrees. The end result of the process is water left from the steaming, which is completely done indoors. According to Magee, there is no steam released into the atmosphere. No water runs onto or offsite and there is no contact with the surface water.
The proposed facility already has the blessing of XCEL, South Adams County Water and Sanitation District, the Adams County Public Works and the Farmers Reservoir Irrigation.
The next meeting is the Adams County Planning meeting on August 25th at 1:30pm at the new Adams Crossings Government Facility. It is important to know that the planning meeting will result in a recommendation only to the Adams County Commissioners’ who will have the final say in the matter.
Background…
Adams County is reviewing the above mentioned application in an effort to make a determination regarding the operation of a Medical Waste Treatment Facility. The material that was sent out for referral identifies that “the medical waste will be sterilized by being placed in a high pressure steam, vessel, and an autoclave, which destroys the infectious nature of the waste and makes it suitable for disposal in a sanitary landfill.” The referral goes on to say that “the facility will accept all infectious wastes as defined in 25-15-401, but will not accept any hazardous waste as defined in 25-15-101(9). All treatment operations will be performed inside of a one story approximate 15,660 square foot building.” In terms of the type of waste that will be received, the application states that “the facility will only accept for treatment waste that requires sterilization prior to disposal in a permitted solid waste disposal facility, and is amendable to the autoclave sterilization process, from commercial medical service providers. Recognizable human anatomical remains shall not be accepted for treatment at the facility.” The referral goes on to say that “the EDOP (Engineering Design and Operations Plan) has been reviewed by both the CDPHE (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment) and the TCHD (Tri-County Health Department) and both agencies have recommended approval of the planned facility based on technical feasibility and compliance with state regulations.” Staff understands that the application has already been reviewed and approved by the CDPHE and the TCHD. Therefore, the Certificate of Designation is the last opportunity for public input regarding this use. If the application is approved, the next step will be for Adams County to review the necessary building permits through an administrative process.
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