A bill requiring companies to tell the state and the public when there’s an ethylene oxide leak has cleared a committee vote in the Georgia House of Representatives.
Ethylene oxide is a toxic gas used in industrial processes like sterilization at facilities in Georgia, including Smyrna, Covington and south Fulton County. Residents of the communities around those facilities began to voice concern about the gas's use after a 2019 report by WebMD and Georgia Health News linked it to a potential increase in cancer risks.
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Tests by the Environmental Protection Agency found ethylene oxide levels 10 times that of federally acceptable levels at the Sterigenics plant in Smyrna. Tests at Becton Dickinson in Covington also found elevated levels of the gas.
House Bill 927, passed Thursday by the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee, requires reporting when any ethylene oxide is emitted, with no acceptable amount that can go unreported. Currently, the state requires reporting when more than 10 pounds is emitted over a 24 hour period. The new legislation would require companies to report any ethylene oxide release within 24 hours, and companies' operating permits are contingent on that reporting.
The bill, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Don Parsons of Marietta, also requires the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to post a notice about reported ethylene oxide releases on its website. Georgia residents can currently get information about ethylene oxide emissions by submitting a public information request; they’re not immediately available on the web.
An investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that, until the recent attention, the state EPD has relied solely on the companies to report their emissions. Georgia has a history of being industry-friendly when it comes to environmental regulation. But the state has recently taken a harder line after the public displayed outrage in protests and town hall meetings.
The bill originally didn't require the public notice on the EPD site, but a competing bill sponsored by state Rep. Erick Allen, D-Smyrna, did. Allen said the fight for the "transparency" requirement had gone on since January.
“We got everything we wanted. Everything we went for. It’s a huge win,” said state Rep. Mary Frances Williams, D-Marietta.
The bill still has to be passed by the full House and Senate to make it to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk.
Staff writer Greg Bluestein contributed reporting
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