Blood, possible human tissue found at east metro garbage hauling site

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has launched an investigation after a series of reports that human blood and something that looked like intestines were found in the garbage hauled to the Ramsey/Washington Recycling and Energy Center, an agency spokesman confirmed Tuesday.

It's happened sporadically over the years since the facility opened in 1987, but starting in May the workers noticed repeated examples of blood-soaked items that appear to be coming from surgical centers or health care facilities, said Michael Reed, division manager for recycling and energy at the Ramsey County Public Health Department.

"This type of waste should not come to any waste facilities anywhere in Minnesota," he said. "None of these workers should be exposed to this."

A generator of infectious or pathological waste in Minnesota must send it to one of seven facilities certified by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for storage and decontamination.

The garbage trucks that deliver some 1,200 tons of waste every day to the Newport facility dump their haul on a concrete floor before it is loaded onto conveyor belts by workers using front-end loaders and grapple cranes. A load from a health care facility usually has telltale baby blue plastic of the sort used to wrap instruments, Reed said.

Some of the things workers found included IV tubing with blood in it, suction canisters from surgery centers containing bodily fluids, vials, blood-soaked bandages, and, in one case, something that looked like human intestines, Reed said. It wasn't tested, but it came in with a load of materials from a surgical center, he said.

Workers at the Newport facility spoke to garbage haulers and studied truck routes to determine where some of the bloody garbage was coming from, and they turned that information over to the MPCA, Reed said.

"They are directing us not to discuss the parties that are involved until those cases are resolved," Reed said.

A spokesman for the MPCA said it's an ongoing investigation. "The MPCA regulates infectious waste, and proper disposal is essential for the protection of human health and the environment," said spokesman Michael Rafferty. "Infectious waste must be handled properly due to its biological risk."

The Newport recycling center takes in garbage and recycling for all of Washington and Ramsey counties under a joint powers agreement that saw the two counties buy the facility in 2016.

The center diverts as much of the garbage as possible from landfills by recycling, composting and converting some of the trash into fuel for Xcel Energy plants in Red Wing and Mankato. The facility handles about 1,200 tons of garbage every day, or about 450,000 tons per year.