I Am Horrified': Politicians Take Swift Action After Discovering That Fetal Remains Were Possibly Used to Generate Energy

It didn't take long for local officials to step in and investigate allegations that aborted fetuses could be among the biomedical waste used to generate electricity at a waste-to-energy facility in Brooks, Oregon.

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After learning about the alleged details of the energy arrangement late in the day Wednesday, Marion County Commissioners temporarily halted the use of the medical waste at Covanta Marion, Inc. and held a last-minute hearing Thursday morning to address the issue, LifeNews.com reported.

"We called an emergency meeting because this is an emergency," Commissioner Janet Carlson said at the start of the meeting. "We need to deal with it now."

Carlson added, "I am horrified. There are not enough strong words to describe my feelings. This will not continue…I don’t even want to call it ‘material;’ these are babies."

In addition to stopping the process, the commissioner said she'd like to look into who knew and how long they were aware that this was unfolding, LifeNews.com added.

While Commissioner Sam Brentano added that no rule of law had been broken, he said that ethical lines had been crossed, pending the fetal allegations are true.

So, to rectify the problem, the Marion County Board of Commissioners asked staffers to begin exploring ordinances and amending contracts to ban fetal waste from being used in energy-generating burners, according to the Statesman Journal.

The private companies that bring the waste to the county generally require 30 days notice before canceling or amending contracts, though Carson said that she believes it's worth the legal risk to immediately cease working with the providers until amendments are made.

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The board will meet next Wednesday to detail plans, including revisiting contracts and ordinances.

The local waste-to-energy facility in question apparently has a contract with Stericycle, a company that carries the waste from Washington state and British Columbia to Oregon.

Here's how the process works: Medical waste is bagged up and then placed in boxes, which are sealed, sent to energy plants and burned in an effort to create electricity for local municipalities.

Both Carlson, a Mormon, and Brentano, a Catholic, are pro-life, according to the Oregonian.

This isn't the first time allegations like this have emerged. As TheBlaze previously reported, thousands of aborted and miscarried babies have reportedly been incinerated along with medical waste at U.K. hospitals, with some of the remains being used to help heat medical facilities.

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