By CLAYTON PARK

A Feb. 17 public meeting to discuss Northwest Hospital's controversial plan to restart its on-site medial waste incinerator in the middle of the Haller Lake neighborhood drew a turnout of more than 80 people who filled the school cafeteria at Broadview-Thompson Elementary.

The hospital temporarily shut down its incinerator in August after a test to monitor hydrogen chloride in the emissions found that the level exceeded the maximum amount allowed under the guidelines of the Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency (PSAPCA) -- the first-ever violation recorded since the hospital began using its $1 million-plus state-of-the-art incinerator in 1992.

Hospital officials blamed the mishap to a recent switch to medical waste containers made of a denser plastic than previously used. They say they have fixed the problem by no longer using those containers, but local anti-incinerator groups have staged a series of protest vigils calling for a permanent ban of the practice of burning medical waste.

The incinerator forum was sponsored by Vision 2020, the neighborhood planning group for the Broadview-Bitter Lake-Haller Lake area. County Council member Maggi Fimia and City Council member Peter Steinbrueck served as the co-moderators for the evening event.

The first half of the meeting consisted of brief presentations from a panel of key players including spokespersons for Northwest Hospital, the Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency, Seattle Public Utilities, the city's Department of Construction and Land Use, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Community Coalition for Environmental Justice, the Washington Toxics Coalition and the city's Neighborhood Planning Office.

A lively, but generally cordial question-and-answer session took up the second hour of the meeting. Notable comments included Northwest Hospital consultant Kay Jones' attempt to illustrate the insignificance of the health threat posed by the incinerator by comparing it to eating a fast-food meal. The amount of dioxin that a person living within a kilometer of the incinerator would be exposed to during the course of his or her lifetime is the same that one ingests by eating one Big Mac sandwich every 2.7 years, he said.

When asked what the hospital's medical waste disposal costs have been these past six months, when it has had to truck it to Stericycle in Morton, Wash., compared to the costs of simply incinerating it on-site, Northwest Hospital spokesman Jason King surprised many in the audience by declaring the costs as "comparable."

Northwest Hospital facilities manager Joe Mitchell, who oversees operation of the incinerator when it is in use, backed up King's statement by adding: "We're still in the process of comparing costs, but it appears to be comparable."

That seemingly contradicts the hospital's previous claims that shipping its medical waste to Stericycle was far more expensive than the cost of incinerating it. Hospital spokeswoman Suzi Beerman later told the Jet City Maven that King's statement came as news to her, adding that the actual costs have yet to be determined.

One possible explanation could be the hospital's recent efforts to reduce the amount of medical waste it produces by stepping up its recycling program. The result: less medical waste needing to be disposed or incinerated.

In summing up his observations, Steinbrueck said: "It's clear that it's very difficult and costly if not impossible to fully monitor all toxins that we're exposed to," adding that Northwest Hospital is certainly not the only local source of air pollutants. "We have to take into account all sources of pollutants (but) I do think there are practical alternatives" to burning medical waste.

Fimia said, "I'm leaving with more questions than answers," but added: "The community needs to be responsible not to make unrealistic demands of any business or organization."

Nevertheless, she encouraged Northwest Hospital officials to make sure they are doing everything they can to reduce waste.

"I'm very encouraged most of all with the dialog between the community and the hospital" that occurred at the forum," she said.