ATLANTA – State Representative Pam Dickerson (D-Conyers) today issued the following statement regarding the ethylene oxide emissions from the B.D. Bard plant in Newton County:
“Independent testing of ethylene oxide emissions [in the state of Georgia] is the only reasonable way to guard against the potential cancer caused by this dangerous chemical. I strongly support funding of this testing by the State of Georgia and local governments. We should all work together to understand what we are facing.”
It was recently reported that a B.D. Bard plant has been emitting ethylene oxide in the Newton County area. In 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that ethylene oxide was more dangerous than previously determined, and ethylene oxide was added to an EPA list of chemicals that cause cancer.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Agency (EPD) recently created maps to show the amounts of ethylene oxide being release in the Newton County area exceed the state’s acceptable area concentration (AAC). According to local reports, the ethylene oxide levels found in Covington neighborhoods that are in close proximity to the B.D. Bard plant range from 17 to 97 times more than the EPD’s AAC. State models also show that the risks of ethylene oxide are found more than 15 miles from the B.D. Bard plant in Covington.
For more information on the EPA’s findings on ethylene oxide, please click here.
Representative Pam Dickerson represents the citizens of District 113, which includes portions of Newton and Rockdale counties. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2010 and currently serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and the Education, Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications, Juvenile Justice, Judiciary Non-Civil and Legislative & Congressional Reapportionment committees.
###