The forum was held at the Levis Faculty Center on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at 7pm. Carle and Covenant Hospitals were invited to speak at the forum to discuss their current waste solutions, unfortunately both hospitals declined the invitations. The highly successful forum attracted approximately 75 people including Urbana Mayor Tod Satterthwaite and members of the Urbana City Council. Although the committee will not give any formal recommendations to city council, it is decided that the city would host a series of four fora, each examining a different aspect of the medical waste incineration issue. PSR was invited to help with the speaker selection.
Advisory referendum passes by an overwhelming majority of registered voters in Urbana.
The Coalition to Stop Medical Waste Incineration. This group worked to select speakers for the Mayor's Fora and towards the cessation of medical waste incineration in Urbana. Jane Wiles of UCAN, Gary Urbanowicz of Doucet and Mainka, and John Strauss of Carle Foundation Hospital and Jim Barnes of Covenant Hospital. They have instead made a tentative decision to ship the waste to a commercial incinerator in Clinton, Illinois. PSR hopes to continue to work with the two hospitals and the commercial incinerator operator to reduce wate, explore recycling options, implementing alternatives to incineration such as autoclaving and finding materials which produce less harmful effects if incinerated.