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On Saturday, 5 October 2002, while working as a Michigan State Trooper
assigned to the Detroit post, I was dispatched to the Fort Street U. S. Customs
Cargo Facility on the Detroit side of the Ambassador Bridge for a suspicious
situation. The Ambassador Bridge connects Detroit, MI to Windsor, Ontario,
Canada, and is a main thoroughfare for semi-tractors from Canada into the U.S.
On the aforementioned day the suspicious situation was a semi-tractor leaking
blood from it's trailer. Upon arrival, I was met by Customs Chief Gary Calhoun
and Customs Agent Senior Investigator (SI) Andre Young. Both men advised the
Department of Health had been notified but refused to respond. In addition, an
agent from the Federal Protection Service, the agency responsible for
investigating crimes on federal property, arrived but did not take action and
left the scene.
SI Young advised while he was checking vehicles for illegal cargo, he noticed
blood dripping from the trailer of one of the vehicles. He stated it had created
a pool in its previous location and since the vehicle had been sequestered,
there was another pool of blood in its new location and blood continued to drip.
The driver of the vehicle stated he was hauling garbage.
The vehicle trailer had two grates in the back door, one of which was leaking
the dark liquid. It was also dripping through the seam between the door and the
bed of the trailer. SI Young and I climbed to the top of the trailer to check
the contents, but the trash was compacted so tightly we were not able to see
down far enough to locate the source of the dripping substance. The x-ray
performed by Customs agents on-site revealed a location of density, but was
inconclusive.
SI Young and I escorted the vehicle to the Waste Management Recovery Station in
Detroit, MI, in order to off-load the garbage and find the source of the
dripping blood. The driver of the vehicle pushed approximately ¼ of the garbage
out of the trailer. In this small amount of garbage we found two garbage bags
full of used blood products, partially empty blood transfusion bags and
intravenous (IV) tubing. In addition, there was a large amount of blood still in
the bags. The medical waste filled two large clear garbage bags, which were then
placed in a larger yellow garbage bag. The two clear garbage bags were tied but
the yellow bag was not. None of the waste was in the required red biohazard
bags, nor was the vehicle properly marked with biohazard placards. The site was
immediately declared a hazmat area and I advised my dispatcher to notify the
Health Department. Detroit Fire Department (DFD) Deputy Commissioner Seth Doyle
as well as Lt Harold Watkins of the DFD Emergency Management Division arrived
on-scene and notified their civilian contract hazmat crew to dispose of the
waste and decontaminate the site. SI Young and I escorted the vehicle back to
the Fort Street Cargo Facility to be cited and sent back across the bridge to
Canada. After the vehicle escort, I provided SI Young with the personal, vehicle
and company information of all parties involved in the incident. This ended my
involvement and I left the scene.
Follow-up of the incident approximately two weeks later revealed Customs had
decided not to cite the driver, nor did they cite the transport company. It's
reasonable to assume the semi came back across the bridge to get to the landfill
the next day. Additional follow-up with the Department of Environmental Quality
under the Department of Health revealed the garbage picked up that day had been
traced to two nursing homes and a hospital, all of which were located in Canada.
To my knowledge no citations have ever been issued in this incident. It is not
known if the blood had ever been screened for diseases.
The driver of the vehicle was a subcontractor who drives for a transport company
out of Brampton, Ontario. A check of the transport company by Michigan State
Police Motor Carrier Investigator Jeff Snyder revealed the company is authorized
to transport garbage/refuse but not medical waste. The garbage load was picked
up from Canadian Resource Recovery in Mississauga, Ont. I was advised by Customs
that Mr. Bassi, the load manager at Canadian Resource Recovery, stated his site
only disposes of industrial food waste. The load was enroute to Carlton Farms
Landfill in Belleville, Wayne County, MI. I spoke with the site engineer of
Carlton Farms who advised they are not licensed to accept medical waste.
A general inquiry of the blood bank at Harper Hospital, Detroit, MI, one of my
places of employment, revealed when units of blood are expired, they are placed
in a red plastic biohazard bin, with markings on the outside and two red
biohazard garbage bags lining the inside. The waste is retrieved by a private
company, who replaces the biohazard containers. The private company then places
the expired blood in an autoclave to destroy bacteria and pathogens, after which
the blood is transported by a company authorized to transport medical waste and
buried at a facility authorized to receive medical waste. This procedure applies
to partially and completely used units of blood and equipment.
I have been a registered nurse for eight years, with specialties in
medical-surgical and nephrology. I am also a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve
Nurse Corp. It is my nursing experience that allowed me to immediately identify
the items in question as blood transfusion bags and intravenous equipment. I
have transfused blood on many occasions in my career and am familiar with the
procedures of disposing expired and used blood products. As a nurse I am also
aware of the dangers associated with an exposure to unknown sources of blood.
Scientists have not yet discovered ways to test donor blood for every existing
pathogen. For example, the American Red Cross will not allow an individual to
donate blood if they have lived in Europe for more than six months during the
1980s because there is no way to test the blood for Mad Cow Disease. If the used
or expired blood is not autoclaved prior to disposal, the pathogens can thrive
in such a warm, moist environment as a landfill. Many diseases could fester in
the open pit of a refuse site . Worst case scenario would be transmission of a
disease by insect or stray animal because of recklessness or laziness such as
this situation.
It is apparent by this incident that proper procedures are not being followed in
Canada. This was just one garbage hauler on one day coming across one bridge.
One has to question how many times this occurs out of the hundreds of vehicles
coming across the Ambassador Bridge on a daily basis. It is unrealistic to think
every garbage hauler will be inspected once it reaches the U.S.
The deregulation of garbage has been blatantly and disgustingly taken advantage
of. It is my hope that those that fought to include garbage as commerce never
envisioned that improperly disposed of medical waste would be sent over the
bridge mixed in with the garbage. However, I am probably being naïve. Including
Canadian garbage in international commerce has totally eliminated the
environmental and, more importantly, the human element. Imagine driving behind
this semi, either on a motorcycle or with your vehicle windows open, and having
blood from the back of a truck splash on your face, arm or windshield, and
having to follow the Center for Disease Control's Post Exposure Prophylaxis
Protocol. Of possibly having to take harsh medication with serious side effects
because the source of the blood is unknown and the possibility of contracting a
disease exists. Months of not knowing if a disease has been contracted or not,
did the splashed blood get into a cut or not. Not to mention a stray dog digging
around that landfill, licking the blood bags then playing or licking the
children in the neighborhood.
I am extremely disgusted and appalled at what I witnessed and the nonchalant
attitude I received from State and Federal officials. "Garbage is no longer
regulated because it falls under commerce now", is what I was told over and
over again. I don't believe the United States should be accepting another
country's garbage. The fact that we have no idea what is being put in those
garbage haulers is more of a reason to put a stop to Canadian garbage coming
into the U.S. Equally appalling is the fact that in these times of increased
bio-terrorism threats, Customs officials identified a hazardous situation and
the federal agencies that are responsible for enforcing violations of this
nature did not respond. Yet one more reason to keep Canadian waste in Canada.
I have been in public service for the past twenty years. I am a former U.S. Army
Paratrooper with 9 years active duty, a former Michigan State Police Trooper,
current U.S. Army Reserve Nurse and current nursing professional who has been
and continues to be totally committed to protecting the health, safety and
freedoms of this great country. As such, I believe that with soldiers dying
overseas to keep this country safe, it is imperative that all necessary actions
be taken domestically to ensure that our borders are kept safe from any human,
chemical or disease that may pose a threat to the citizens of this great nation.
This statement is truthful to the best of my knowledge, given on 21 July
2003.
The police report associated with this incident is Michigan State Police Detroit
Post
Number 29-8110-02.
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