According to health officials in California
Healthcare Environmental Services Inc. has received a few calls from nervous people since it appeared on a California Department of Public Health list of potential destinations for any Ebola-related waste, said Chad Wold, the company’s director.
“There is an element of hysteria out there. We’re doing our best to not encourage any more people thinking along those lines,” he said, noting that the company has decades of experience in disposing of medical waste.
“We are not actively engaged in looking for Ebola-contaminated waste,” Wold said. “If someone outside the tri-state area desperately needs our help, we would consider it.”
Only six states have medical waste incinerators, according to health officials in California, which does not have any identified Ebola cases. Wold said the Fargo facility has not been contacted by the Salt Lake City company that works with California health officials, but that it has been contacted by companies in Indiana and Wisconsin that are putting together contingency plans for Ebola-related waste.
“We are not saying, ‘yes, we will accept it,‘ ahead of time,” Wold said. “We are evaluating on a case-by-case basis.”