Curtis Bay Energy, LP, a Baltimore company, has been fined $1.7 million after pleading guilty to more than 40 environmental violations concerning the improper disposal of medical waste.
Curtis Bay Energy is known for collecting medical waste from a Washington, D.C., abortion facility owned and operated by Cesare Santangelo. In March 2022, pro-life activists obtained a box from a Curtis Bay Energy driver which were later found to contain the bodies of 115 aborted children. Five of those children appeared to have been killed late in pregnancy at the Washington Surgi-Clinic, and their images shocked the nation.
The investigation into Curtis Bay’s mishandling of medical waste began in 2019, three years before the babies’ bodies were discovered.
Today we announced the guilty plea and sentencing of Curtis Bay Energy, LP, the owner and operator of a special medical waste incinerator facility located in south Baltimore City, to 40 criminal counts. https://t.co/YeoTJX2AAP@MayorBMScott @MDEnvironment @USDOT pic.twitter.com/8AHUjZFGg5
— Anthony G. Brown (@OAGMaryland) October 17, 2023
In a plea agreement this week, Curtis Bay pleaded guilty to 40 counts related to “systemic, improper, and unsafe handling, transport, and disposal of insufficiently incinerated special medical waste,” according to the Office of the Attorney General. The company, which has the largest waste incinerators in the country, failed to properly dispose of medical waste and was accused of transporting unsafe waste to landfills in Virginia. In addition to the $1.7 million fine to be paid to the Maryland Clean Water Fund, the company must give $750,000 for environmental projects to aid the community.
“The public relies on them to do their job and keep us safe. They didn’t,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said Tuesday. “It is what the previous owner of Curtis Bay Energy didn’t do when they received this special medical waste that was most egregious.”
According to CBS News, operations director Kenneth Jackson dismissed concerns from employees about the handling of medical waste. Jackson pleaded guilty to five criminal counts for the improper handling of waste and the illegal operation of an unpermitted outlet.
“Employees of Curtis Bay Energy had voiced concern about these practices, but to no avail,” Katie Dorian of the Office of the Attorney General said. “Those employees regularly observed insufficiently burned special medical waste such as red bags, surgical gloves, medical supplies, bedding, and more.”
According to The Washington Post, the medical waste Curtis Bay usually handles is known as “red bag” waste, which includes anatomical waste such as organs and the remains of aborted babies.
Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU), the pro-life group that discovered the bodies of the aborted children in medical waste bins, released a statement, saying, “In March 2022, the remains of 115 aborted babies were intercepted by PAAU activists as they were being loaded into a Curtis Bay truck outside of the Washington Surgi-Center in Washington DC. These included five late-term aborted babies, far past viability, who were destined to provide energy to residents of Baltimore. Curtis Bay has a long history of collecting and burning aborted babies for energy in the Baltimore area. They are the leading medical waste pick up service for abortion facilities in the DMV area.”
Caroline Smith, PAAU Executive Director, responded to the news, saying, “Any step towards justice for the babies murdered by Cesare Santangelo is a victory for the pro-life movement. Curtis Bay is a collaborator in the pervasive mass murder of abortion, and they must be held accountable for burning the bodies of thousands of aborted human beings. Curtis Bay must be shut down and their assets must be liquidated for the good of the community.”
