Abortion Clinic Investigated for Using Car to Transfer 'Infectious Waste' at Local Gas Station
An abortion clinic in Greenville, South Carolina, has been cited by the state for the alleged illegal transportation of "infectious waste" in passenger vehicles and transfer of the contents at a nearby gas station.
The Greenville Women's Center stands accused of nine violations of South Carolina's Infectious Waste Management Regulation 61-105, according to a March 6 "Notice of Alleged Violation/Notice of Enforcment Conference" from the state's Department of Health and Environmental Control.
According to the notice, the department received a complaint in December alleging that the clinic "transported infectious waste to the Quick Trip gas station" on Grove Road in Greenville on three different occasions.
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At the gas station, the waste was transferred to the nation's largest biological waste company, Stericycle.
The agency reviewed the complaints and is now asking the clinic to prove that it did not violate the state regulation.
The state reviewed pictures that showed that on June 21, 2017, an official from the clinic transported the infectious waste to the gas station in an unlabeled black Toyota pickup truck. Once at the gas station, the official removed a biohazard marked box from the front passenger seat of the pickup truck and gave it to the rep from Stericycle, who loaded it into a transport vehicle.
According to the notice, similar instances occurred on Oct. 4, 2017, and Oct. 18, 2017. However, the Oct. 4 incident allegedly involved a blue Jeep Cherokee.
Two more instances reportedly occurred on Jan. 10 and Jan. 31, more than month after the department had received the complaint.
According to the department, the clinic is not licensed by the state as an infectious waste transporter nor has it paid annual transporter fees. Additionally, the Quick Trip gas station is not a permitted transfer location.
An enforcement conference has been scheduled for March 22 in Columbia, which will offer the abortion clinic an opportunity to disprove allegations.
According to the notice, the clinic has been cited with illegally transferring and storing infectious waste without complying with the proper procedures.
The clinic was also cited for violating a rule that requires transporters to have a detailed infectious waste management plan. The department also claims the clinic failed to ensure that the vehicles used for the transfer met numerous state requirements for biohazard transportation.
The DHEC also cited Stericycle with five violations of state regulations.
The pro-life organization Created Equal received three videos (June 21, Oct. 4, Oct. 18) from a Greenville "whistleblower" that show representatives of the clinic making the transfers with Stericycle drivers at the Quick Trip.
"Abortionists and their medical waste enablers are the dregs of society and medicine and, therefore, are forced to conduct their nefarious activities in secret. Because abortionists kill babies, they also break other laws," Created Equal National Director Mark Harrington told LifeNews. "We thank the SCDHEC for bringing to light both the unlawful conduct of Greenville Women's Clinic and Stericycle. We demand the SDHEC shut down both these operations over these violations, not just given a slap on the wrist."
According to Greenville Online, the clinic's attorney, Randall Hiller, claims that the contents transported at the gas station was "small generator waste," a classification that has different requirements under state law.
Hiller reportedly said that the clinic does not contest the factual observations made by the department. He reasoned that the transfers were not made at the clinic because sometimes trucks can't come to the clinic because of pro-life protesters in the driveway.
"That's bogus first of all," Harrington told 7 News. "Nobody blocks the entrance to an abortion facility, it's actually a federal law. ... All they had to do was call local police or federal officials, and these people would have been prosecuted."
