by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 4/25/14 11:20 AM

A former plant worker at the facility found to be burning aborted babies for energy says the practice had been going on for years and he believes plant officials and perhaps even county government officials should have known.

Local officials in Oregon are upset that an energy plant is reportedly burning aborted babies from Canada to generate electricity. As LifeNews reported on Thursday, they launched an investigation into how and why aborted babies were included along with medical waste shipped from Canada to Oregon to be incinerated for energy at a recycling plant.

The Marion County Commissioners heard about it for the first time yesterday, April 23, at 4 p.m. They immediately called Oregon Right to Life to express their horror and avow their lack of knowledge of the practice.

Commissioner Sam Brentano said the “waste-to-energy” plant was intended to efficiently destroy waste and, in the process, generate electricity, but the plant was “never intended to be a destruction of human fetal tissue.”

But plant worker KOIN interviewed Bud Waterman, a former temp worker at Covanta Marion, Inc., who told the television station that he saw 53-foot tractor trailers carrying biohazardous material dropping off loads at the facility at least two to three times a week. He said plant officials had to know that aborted babies were part of the medical waste and had been for years.

From the report:

On more than one occasion, Waterman said the contents of the truck spilled out of their containers.

“It would make you sick, especially if you had to clean it up or have to pull a box off the trailer,” said Waterman.

Covanta responded to the claims early Thursday morning by placing blame on Marion County and said the company is halting the program until answers are given.

“The medical waste program at the Marion County Resource Recovery Facility is County run and managed,” Covanta said in a statement. “Marion County contracts for and delivers medical waste to the facility and Covanta has no responsibility for the program. Covanta is shocked by these allegations and is discontinuing the receipt of this waste stream until we have been assured by the County that this alleged material is not being delivered to the facility.”

Waterman said he believes certified contractors have been carrying fetuses from British Columbia to Oregon, where state statutes allow fetuses to be disposed.

“I don’t know that you can know just like I should have known, but I didn’t,” said Brentano. “I’m sorry I didn’t know that this included fetal tissue, but now that I do know, believe me things change.”

Waterman said he believes fetuses have been incinerated at the Marion County facility for years and used for energy, a practice that the Canadian government will not do.

“They knew it, they had to. I don’t see how they could not know it,” said Waterman.