PULLMAN -- If Pullman area residents are concerned about a new incinerator planned by Washington State University, they haven't shown it through public comments or attendance at an informational meeting Monday night.
Just five citizens attended the meeting, voicing concerns about water and air pollution and suggesting possible alternatives to incineration.
Washington Department of Ecology officials allowed a 30-day period for public concern about the project. They have received two comments and determined a public hearing was unnecessary. The comment period ends Wednesday.
WSU has been disposing pathological, medical and low level radioactive waste in its current incinerator since 1978.
In 1994 the Washington Department of Ecology conducted a test that showed the incinerator was inferior, predominately because it was incapable of disposing of whole large animals, such as horses and cows.
The $2.5 million facility is planned for construction in November 1999 on Dairy Road. It will have a scrubber to wash pollutants from the smokestack exhaust and will make up less than 4 percent of the total solid waste produced from the university.
"It's better than what we do now and it's better than something experimental," said Dwight Hagihara, director of environmental health and safety at WSU, said at Monday's meeting.
WSU experts looked into alternatives such as microwave and ultra-sonic treatment and felt they were too experimental for their needs.
Any comments may be directed to Jerry Schiebner or Greg Ryan at the Washington Department of Ecology, N 4601 Monroe St., Spokane 99205.
