WE DESERVE TO BREATHE CLEAN AIR!

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In August 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified South Memphis as one of the communities with elevated cancer risks after long-term exposure due to a commercial sterilizer facility releasing the cancer-causing toxin ethylene oxide (EtO) into the air. The facility, Sterilization Services of Tennessee, located at 2396 Florida Street, 38109, has been permitted by the Shelby County Health Department’s (SCHD) air program since 1985 but has been operating in South Memphis since 1976, surrounded by single-family homes, churches, schools, and businesses.

A report published on February 7, 2023 by the Union of Concerned Scientists, Invisible Threat: Inequitable Impact, Communities Impacted by Cancer-causing Ethylene Oxide Pollution, finds that based on the most recent publicly-available data, ethylene oxide emissions contribute nearly 82 percent of the overall cancer risk in the census tract that includes Sterilization Services of Tennessee. Eleven percent of the residents in the one-mile ring immediately surrounding the facility are children under age five who are particularly vulnerable to the damage caused by ethylene oxide.

The Shelby County Health Department Director-Health Officer has a duty to issue an emergency order when she “finds that a generalized condition of air pollution exists and that it creates an emergency requiring immediate action to protect human health or safety.” Memphis Muni. Code § 9-12-9(A). We must demand that the Shelby County Health Department Director-Health Officer exercise her emergency power to order the Sterilization Services of Tennessee to immediately begin to make voluntary changes to significantly reduce EtO pollution. We must engage our Shelby County Commissioners, Memphis City Council Members, Shelby County Mayor, and Memphis City Mayor to stand with us and protect the health of the South Memphis Community.