The Lee County Waste-to-Energy facility is off Buckingham Road in Fort Myers. The incinerator is hard at work daily, turning tons of trash into ash.
The plant works on controlling pollution and is the first in the country to use a permanent activated carbon injection system to limit mercury emissions.
The Calusa Group, a local chapter of the Sierra Club, is an environmentalist group in the county. It’s members say the incinerator at the plant presents an issue.
“We know that the impacts of mercury on human health are extreme,” Marsha Ellis, a member of the group said.
According to the World Health Organization , developing a disregulated nervous systems, reduced kidney function, brain damage in fetuses and babies, are all issues connected with mercury inhalation and consumption.
The Environmental Protection Agency says mercury is released as trash burns. The EPA has passed rules to limit public incinerators that burn sewage and eliminates all emissions from medical waste incinerators.