The 86 commercial sterilizers used in the US are subject to new regulations, according to the EPA's proposed rule, which was published on April 11. The measures should cut EtO emissions by 80%, lowering the risk to residents of adjacent areas.
The letter praised the EPA for its strategy to cut emissions, but it also advocated for changes to the strategy. The letter asks that the EPA shorten the 18-month compliance term given to businesses to meet the new limits in order to put the health of residents in the neighborhood first.
Cuellar is particularly interested in the problem of emissions from industrial sterilizing facilities because Laredo is home to one of the Midwest sterilizing Corporation's two sites. In total, the two businesses span over 376,000 square feet of warehouse space and 55,000 cubic feet of sterilizing chamber capacity at the other plant, which is located in Jackson, Missouri. For more than 30 years, Midwest Sterilization Corporation has served the medical device manufacturing sector with contract EO sterilization services.