DAQ director Cheryl Heying said that much of the area around Stericycle is industrial, with a sand and gravel operation, refineries and lots of traffic from I-15 and I-215. But it's also where Woodside Homes developed the Foxboro subdivision, where residents have said fouled air is affecting their children.

"It is just like a hub of everything," Heying said. "It's industrial. It's transportation. We've got things coming together. ... It's complicated. You can't just say it in a couple of buzzwords."

Olsen and Heying said Stericycle continues to comply with their permit, which will be the subject of an open house and hearing on Sept. 2. With the permit renewal application there is reportedly no change in emissions or amount of waste being incinerated at Stericycle's facility, located at 90 N. 1100 West in North Salt Lake. The public comment period for the permit application has been extended until Sept. 8.

In recent years questions have filtered into the DAQ about the publicly traded Illinois-based Stericycle, which by law is allowed to accept waste at its Utah site from around the country. On the whole, Stericycle has been described by stock advisor Steven Halpern as an "almost perfect business" and "absolutely essential service," one that he said no one else wants to provide, thereby creating a near monopoly. Stericycle, with incinerators in other states and around the world, continues to grow, with 2008 second quarter revenues of $277.8 million, up 19 percent over the same quarter last year.

Olsen said DAQ has responded to residents' concerns well above what is required, including setting up a page on their Web site, deq.utah.gov, dedicated as a clearing house for Stericycle-related questions and issues. Stericycle officials say the Web site should soon contain new emission data for people to review.

As for residents whose worries have not been or cannot be assuaged by the Web site or access to DAQ officials, Olsen suggested that people educate themselves on their surroundings before moving into a home. Olsen even said he'd feel safe living with children (his are grown) near Stericycle's incinerator. Also, no one at DAQ who is monitoring Stericycle is aware of any county or state health department studies that would indicate the incinerator is causing health problems.

"There's some responsibility to do some due diligence to know where they're moving into," Olsen said. "If we as DAQ knew that the emissions were at a level we thought would cause health issues, we would make that known."

DAQ has said that during emergency bypasses of Stericycle's pollution control equipment, which do occur, emissions of pollutants don't go up enough to justify installation of an audible alarm that would notify nearby residents who have expressed an interest in such a device for the sake of children possibly playing outside at the time.

Though residents want a closer watch on the incinerator, there is no continuous monitoring of Stericycle by DAQ. And state air standards branch manager Rusty Ruby said the company's permit requires it to report emissions data to the state every three years.

Department of Environmental Quality director of planning and public affairs Renette Anderson said she hadn't heard from anyone regarding Stericycle for about 18 months before the permit renewal recently came due. There are more new residents these days in Foxboro and Anderson said, "I'm guessing we'll hear from a few people."

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com