PHILADELPHIA, Pa., May 28, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A group of pro-life activists is calling for a government investigation into the disposal of babies killed by convicted abortionist Kermit Gosnell in light of new evidence that they say indicates that the medical waste giant Stericycle unlawfully dumped their bodies into a municipal landfill.
The Campaign to Stop Stericycle (CSS) has exposed Stericycle's relationship with abortion clinics, including Gosnell's, across the country. In 2011 they successfuly convinced the truck leasing company Ryder to stop providing trucks for Stericyle.
Grand Jury documents had pointed to Stericycle as assisting Gosnell with the disposal of the aborted babies. The Presentment outlined that staff were assigned the task of preparing the boxes for the company's arrival. The document explained: “James Johnson, who worked for Gosnell since 2001, testified that his duties included collecting the red biohazard bags of fetal remains and putting them in boxes for pickup by an outside firm, Stericycle.” (Page 32)
CSS says that during an undercover investigation in 2010, it discovered that human body parts that are collected by Stericycle in Pennsylvania are hauled to the company's plant in North Carolina (the Stericycle incinerator used for much of the medical waste on the East Coast) to be burned with tons of medical garbage.
“You'll get stickers marked for incinerate only. The waste will be incinerated,” explained Stericycle sales representative Mara Villalobos. “It will be incinerated, so it will be hauled over to Haw River, [North Carolina].”
However, after requesting that the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) investigate what it said was Stericycle's lawful incineration of late-term and newborn babies killed by Gosnell,CSS discovered that the bodies of the children never made it to the incineration plant. Instead, according to documentation, the boxes were mislabeled and sent to Stericycle's chemclave plant in Morgantown, Pennsylvania. Chemclave is a sterilization process involving alcohols, ketones, formaldehyde and water.
After the babies were treated in this chemical solution, they were hauled to an area landfill and buried with the trash, which is illegal in Pennsylvania.
Records also show that Stericycle assisted Gosnell with his disposal needs on a weekly basis, at times collecting a large number of boxes. Documents show that on December 22, 2008, the company hauled 26 boxes from the facility, weighing 290 pounds. On July 13, 2009, the company detailed hauling away 23 boxes, weighing 264.90 pounds. Even when just a few boxes were collected, single boxes would at times weigh over 20 pounds.
The Grand Jury Presentment outlined that James Johnson, who packaged the remains, “told [investigators] that in the last two years, Gosnell did not always pay his Stericycle bills.” Since Stericycle would not collect the abortion “waste” until payment was received, the fetal remains were packed into freezers until Stericycle resumed its cooperation. Records show that Gosnell owed the company over $10,000 at the time of the police raid, which is why investigators were able to find the evidence of his heinous crimes, which would have otherwise been destroyed.
“If Gosnell had kept paying his Stericycle bills, who knows what evidence would have been left to convict him,” campaign director Michael Marcavage stated. “Stericycle was willing to dispose of Gosnell's so-called 'waste' for as long as they were profiting from the abortionist.”
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Marcavage decried the fact that the bodies of Gosnell's victims actually ended up in a landfill.
“Matters turned out to be even worse than we thought as the company failed to follow its internal protocol,” Marcavage said. “It is beyond sickening to think that the bodies of potentially hundreds of children are buried with the trash in a Pennsylvania landfill. Whether burned in an incinerator or dumped in a landfill, Stericycle must be held responsible for its collaboration with Gosnell and its improper handling of human remains.”
In 2011, Stericycle was fined over $42,000 for an identical situation in Texas, where the company was found to be illegally dumping aborted babies into a municipal landfill in Austin with household and commercial garbage. The Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) found Stericycle liable for “failure to prevent the disposal of treated fetuses at a municipal solid waste landfill” and “failure to comply with permit conditions.”
Following the revelations in Pennsylvania, CSS sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to request a formal investigation. Governor Tom Corbett, Representative Matthew Baker, Chair of the House Health Committee and the Pennsylvania State Police were also among the recipients.
“Once again, the sins of Stericycle have found them out,” Marcavage stated. “While the trial largely focused on the acts of the abortionist, Stericycle played a huge role in the disposal of Gosnell's victims, and for that, they must be exposed.”
“Who knows how many of Gosnell's victims lay dead in the trash, or how many more would have met their fate in the same landfill should Gosnell have kept paying his Stericycle bills,” he continued. “Without Stericycle, and companies like it, the abortion industry would collapse.”