In Oregon, Senate Bill 488 , a precedent-setting bill to continuously monitor toxic emissions from waste incineration, passed into law with the governor's signature on August 4, 2023. See the latest news coverage in Waste Dive (8/3/2023): Oregon becomes first state to require continuous emissions monitoring at incinerators .
The law requires the state's only trash incinerator ( Covanta Marion ) to have to continuously monitor for dioxins/furans, PCBs, and toxic metals for 12 months. They'd be the first in the nation to have to use this modern technology, and it'll likely expose that actual toxic air emissions are far higher than what is shown by once-per-year self-administered "best behavior" tests. Continuous testing at incinerators in Europe has shown that dioxins, the most toxic chemicals known to science, are emitted at rat
This will have national implications once that data comes out. It's the first time these toxic chemicals will be tested continuously in the U.S., and should put to rest the claims that the testing technology is not available.