From our media partners at WOOD TV:
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — State environmental officials are tapping the Grand Rapids community for input before fining Viant Medical $110,000 for polluting the air with a known carcinogen.
Viant, located at 520 Watson Street SW, uses carcinogenic ethylene oxide to sterilize medical equipment — something that’s been done at the factory since the mid-1980s, state officials said.
Initial emissions tests by the state showed the pollution’s impact stretching eight blocks west from the plant, across the Grand River to the east and about seven blocks north and south. It covered Grand Valley State University’s Pew campus, but GVSU said February tests by an independent company it hired showed very low levels of pollution.
In January, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality said the West Side neighborhood near Viant had the highest risk for cancer caused by air pollution in the state.
In July, the state health department said it didn’t find a significant increase in cancer among people leaving nearby but cautioned that it’s possible that people have left the area.
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