Hundreds Gather For Public Forum In Smyrna About Toxic Chemical
State and local officials organized the public forum after news broke earlier this month that areas in Smyrna and Covington have an increased risk of cancer because of ethylene oxide.
Emma Peaslee / WABE
More than 500 people turned out to Campbell Middle School Tuesday night. Smyrna residents wanted answers from the president of a Sterigenics, a company that owns a plant in the city that emits a hazardous chemical in their neighborhood.
Andrew Kurt, one of at least a dozen people who questioned the company’s president, Phil MacNabb, knew the stakes could not be higher for him and the others packed into the middle school auditorium.
“But seriously, this is our lives here,” he said.
State and local officials organized the public forum after news broke earlier this month that areas in Smyrna and Covington have an increased risk of cancer because of ethylene oxide.
MacNabb gave a presentation on the sterilization company and why they use the chemical.
“I want to explain who we are because I think before a couple of weeks ago, most of you did not know this company existed,” said MacNabb.
Georgia Health News and Web MD first reported on the National Air Toxic Assessment, or NATA, earlier this month. The report flagged 109 census tracts across the country where cancer risks were elevated because of exposure to airborne toxins. They discovered most of those areas were at risk because of ethylene oxide, a chemical that is used to sterilize medical equipment.
MacNabb said they plan to make an update to their process to reduce emissions even further.
“It’s a little bit too late, right? They’ve known about this for years and years,” state Sen. Jen Jordan said of the plan.
Earlier Wednesday, Jordan confirmed she asked the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct a cancer-risk analysis in the area.
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