(KCPW News) After months of pressure from local environmental groups, Governor Gary Herbert announced three new investigations into possible infractions by medical incinerator Stericycle. Wednesday’s announcement comes just a week after an anonymous former employee of Stericycle made claims of wrongdoing in a video interview.
A statement from the governor’s office revealed that the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) had started investigating possible violations by Stericycle on September 17. The Utah Labor Commission has also been looking into possible workplace health-and-safety infractions.
As of Thursday, the Utah Attorney General’s Office has begun a criminal investigation into the company’s practices.
The governor’s statement says that, if the allegations are true, Governor Herbert “intends to use his full authority to take swift and aggressive corrective action.”
Natasha Hincks of Communities for Clean Air has been pushing for the closure of Stericycle. She said she’s cautiously hopeful after the governor’s announcement.
“We’ve said from the beginning of this, we don’t want to just pass on the problem to anyone else, so we don’t feel like moving this facility to Tooele is the answer,” Hincks said. Moving Stericycle’s operations to a location near Tooele has been an idea recently proposed by the company, and the proposal even got the endorsement of state lawmakers in a resolution brought up this year.
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