planned el paso medical waste facility may be decided in court

Plans for the El Paso building of a biohazardous medical waste facility will almost certainly be challenged in court, now that El Paso County is providing funds for a legal challenge.

The Amarillo, Texas-based Medcare Environmental Solutions applied several months ago for a license to operate the facility at 9119 Billy the Kid Street.

The project would see the upgrading and re-purposing of a one-story cement structure that would be used as processing space for what could be up to 100,000 pounds of medical waste on a daily basis.

In late June, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gave its approval to the project.

Now, members of the El Paso County Commission have voted to set aside up to $20,000 in an effort to challenge the project in court.

Members of that commission, as well as residents living near the proposed business, have said that they are concerned about how the company will dispose of such things as contaminated syringes, animal carcasses, and human blood and blood products.

The issue of whether any of the waste processed in the facility could seep into the local water supply has also been raised.

Officials with Medcare Environmental Solutions say that the more than 11,000 square foot building, which includes some 9,600 square feet of warehouse space, will be reconverted and updated in order to treat the medical waste.

That structure was built in 1973 and also includes dock and office space.

According to county documents, the company has said that through the use of innovative technology it would guarantee the disposal of waste in both an “environmentally safe and economical manner.”

Founded in the 1960s, Medcare has provided its medical waste management services to entities in eight states, including Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.

Using what the company calls a regulated medical waste stream, Medcare processes pathology waste, non-hazardous pharmacy waste, trace chemotherapy waste, and regulated medical waste.

By Garry Boulard

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