EAST LIVERPOOL - Officials from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency met Thursday with the city's board of health, fielding questions from citizens concerned about a pink plume emitted in June from the stack at Heritage-WTI.

The pink tinge in the plume was the result of iodine in the vapor being discharged from the hazardous waste incinerator during a power outage on June 9.

Although the OEPA had provided a letter in August regarding the emission and stating there was no health risk involved, the board had asked for a clarification, also raising concerns regarding the effect of the plume on those with iodine allergies.

At yesterday's meeting, EPA representatives reiterated there was no health risk associated with the release of iodine into the air that day, saying the level at which an average person - including those with a sensitivity to the element - could be exposed with no effect has been shown to be 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter.

Comparatively, the emission on June 9 was 25 micrograms per cubic meter, which the EPA pointed out is "far below" the acceptable level.

"Any acute health risk was low to non-existent," according to Paul Koval, air pollution control division.

Koval pointed out that iodine is an essential nutrient for humans, who are exposed to it in such foods as salt and shellfish.

It was explained that, since a pink plume is disturbing to the public, a suppression system exists at WTI that consists of injecting a chemical that makes the iodine water soluble and thus removes most of the color before the vapor is emitted.

On June 9, the facility was incinerating a waste containing iodine when a power outage occurred, causing the suppression system to stop working, allowing the fully-colored plume to emerge.

The suppression system is aesthetic, according to EPA representative Ed Fasco, who said its purpose is because a pink plume is objectionable to the public.

Studies performed many years ago determined there was no health risk to the amount of iodine released in a pink plume then and the EPA officials said the agency continues to believe that today.

Citizens present weren't satisfied with the answers they were hearing, with Michigan Avenue resident Virgil Reynolds asking, "Did you see that plume? It was as purple as anything in this room."

Reynolds said he found on the Internet information that showed increasing evidence that iodine is linked with disease, including cancer.

Koval said tests conducted before the facility was built and conducted since then indicate it poses no risk to the community, saying cancer and heart disease are pervasive everywhere, with three out of every five people expected to contract cancer.

Reynolds said East Liverpool's cancer rate is twice the state and national average, asking, "Why in hell would you put a thing like that here? There it sits, operating 365 days a year."

Admitting, "I don't have an answer for that," Koval added that perhaps it is time to reinvestigate the rate of cancer in the community if the last study was done 15 years ago but that automotive traffic and other industries must be looked at as well.

May Street resident Richard Wolf said the OEPA and federal EPA are both "enablers for anything this facility wants to do," and said the incinerator was shut down during crucial air quality testing at East Elementary.

However, Koval said the testing at the elementary school was for manganese and metals not routinely emitted from WTI, and the only elevated level found was manganese.

Resident Alonzo Spencer asked the board to provide all the information and statistics aired at yesterday's meeting to an independent entity for review, providing the name of Stephen Lester, science director of the Center for Health, Environment & Justice in Falls Church, Va.

Health Commissioner Gary Ryan agreed to contact him but said an actual review would depend on whether it would be scientific, whether the entity is reputable, what the cost would be and who would pay it.