On Thursday, January 15, 2009, the Center's Director, Christian Stalberg, testified before an Environmental Protection Agency hearing in Research Triangle Park on EPA's Proposal for the Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emissions Guidelines for Existing Sources: Hospital/Medical/Infectious Waste Incinerators (HMIWI). Christian's testimony was prepared in cooperation with the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League.

Medical waste incineration has been identified by the EPA as the third largest known source of dioxin air emissions, and a contributor of about ten-percent of mercury emissions to the environment from human activities. Almost half of the medical waste generated in the United States is trucked into North Carolina and incinerated at the Stericycle incinerators in Haw River (Alamance County) in any given year.