Maine Waste Burn Barrel Ban
In 2001, Maine passed a law to reduce dioxin releases by banning open burning of municipal solid waste in burn barrels. It also established a state policy to reduce dioxin and mercury and spurred a state study on diverting PVC waste away from incineration.
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Original Legislation
This is the original bill before it was amended due to chemical industry opposition. For instance, the sections to set up a statewide dioxin-free procurement program and fund household hazardous waste and PVC collection programs were removed in the final law.
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State Bulletin on Dioxin Emissions
This 2001 state news bulletin describes the new law and states, “Dioxin pollution causes legislators to ban open burning of waste.”
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State Poster on Dioxin Emissions and Waste Burning
This 2001 state poster states, ”Burning trash to save a few dollars isn’t worth the price of your family’s health. It’s downright dangerous to breathe that smoke.”
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State Report on Household Hazardous Waste & PVC
In the 2001 Household Hazardous Waste report, the state identified PVC as a problem waste to be separately collected and diverted away from incineration to landfills (if not recycled).
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State Report on Toxic Reduction Plan
This State Planning Office Study Committee 2003 report found “substantial support for efforts that would result in the diversion of PVC plastic away from incineration.”
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Precautionary PVC Policy Paper
This 2003 position paper by the Environmental Health Strategy Center, titled “Dioxin Pollution Prevention & PVC Plastic In Municipal Waste Stream: Precautionary State Policy,” provides an overview of the problem and solutions.
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