BFI Files Suit Against New Jersey Over Waste Hauling
Browning-Ferris Industries has filed suit in United States Federal District Court charging that New Jersey regulators have illegally and unconstitutionally blocked a $350 million project designed to eliminate 1,000 garbage-laden tractor-trailer trips each day by moving New York City trash through New Jersey by barge and train. The suit, which claims hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, arises from the failure of state Department of Environmental Protection officials to agree to include the project in Union County's Solid Waste Management Plan so that the state environmental permitting process can begin, BFI attorneys charge. The Union County Board of Freeholders has already approved the project three times...Read More »
Republic Names Cordesman to COO Spot
Republic Services, Inc. has announced that Mike Cordesman has been named to the position of Chief Operating Officer. In this position, Cordesman will be responsible for all of Republic's operations including hauling companies, transfer stations and landfills in 22 states. Mr. Cordesman will assume the position immediately and continue to serve as the regional vice president of the Eastern Region. Cordesman joined Republic Services in June 2001 as the regional vice president of the Eastern Region in charge of operations in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, and parts of Ohio...Read More »
Pennsylvania Fines Kephart $143,600 in Clean Sweep
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has announced that the department has fined Kephart Trucking Co. of Bigler, Clearfield County, $143,600 for 113 waste transportation violations discovered last May during the weeklong ``Operation Clean Sweep.'' From May 21 to May 29, 2001, 500 inspectors from DEP, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Department of Transportation conducted Operation Clean Sweep, the state's largest-ever environmental enforcement effort that involved surprise inspections of trash trucks at 63 sites including every landfill. In all, DEP inspected more than 31,000 trucks. More than 11,000 violations were found statewide. More than $1.7 million in penalties have been collected so far from violations during Operation Clean Sweep...Read More »
Waste Management Streamlines Corporate Structure
Waste Management has announced plans to alter its structure in order to better align its collection, transport, recycling and disposal resources with its market areas. The plan eliminates one management layer and reduces the company¹s total workforce by approximately 2,000 people, or 3.5 percent. The company expects to record expenses of approximately $75 million on a pre-tax basis related to the new organizational structure. The company expects the plan to result in annual savings of approximately $100 million once it is fully implemented. The company expects the new structure to yield a number of benefits, among them clearer accountability and responsibility for business performance and profitability in specific markets; simplification of structure; cost savings through consolidation of duplicate administrative and other support functions; improved utilization of operating assets; and better customer responsiveness...Read More »
PennFuture Plans to Sue State, EPA, Beazer Over Solid Waste
Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture) have announced that they intend to sue the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Beazer East, Inc., for their alleged failure to protect the citizens of the Petrolia area and Fairview Township and Borough, Butler County from potentially harmful pollution to their drinking water caused by abandoned solid waste landfills in their community. This pollution resulted from waste dumped in the 1950's and 1960's from Beazer's (formerly Koppers Company) manufacturing plant, and contained hazardous substances that spilled out or leached into the drinking water wells of local citizens...Read More »
Britain May See Biodegradation Facilities Cut into Waste Stream
Britain, which buries almost all its waste, has been named one of the world¹s dirtiest nations in a recent report. Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and the United States all do more to control the growth of their landfills than Britain, according to a report published last month by the World Economic Forum. But Britain, which the survey's investigators say dumps over 80 percent of its household waste into landfills, could soon benefit from technology that helped Denmark reduce the proportion of garbage dumped to 10 percent in 1996. German energy firm Farmatic is hoping to build power plants in Britain that will burn gas produced by fermenting organic waste, a business that has been so successful in Denmark that further expansion is only prevented by a lack of biodegradable rubbish...Read More »
Supreme Court Declines to Hear Virginia Waste Case
Supreme Court justices have refused, without comment, to consider reviving state of Virginia waste restrictions that had been struck down by an appeals court. Virginia passed laws in 1999 designed to keep out large shipments of imported trash, including waste from New York City. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond struck down the laws that limited out-of-state waste, tightened restrictions on large trash-hauling trucks and banned garbage barges from three Virginia rivers. "Virginia will lose control of the content of its landfills, and its sovereign interest in regulating the public health will be compromised," Virginia lawyers told the Supreme Court in court filings. They also contended that New York interfered with the market by closing its landfill and restricting garbage transport. New York was not involved in the lawsuit. Waste Management Holdings Inc., which has handled New York's trash, was one of the companies that challenged the laws...Read More »
Casella Reports Third Quarter Financial Results
Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has reported financial results for the third quarter of its 2002 fiscal year. For the quarter ended January 31, 2002, the company reported earnings of $21.4 million; revenue for the quarter was $100.8 million. For the nine months ended January 31, 2002, the company reported revenues of $322.9 million and net income of $8.0 million. The company has reduced its debt by $139 million over the last 12 months through divestitures and capital improvements. The company provides collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services primarily in the northeastern United States...Read More »
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