Schuylkill Officials Work Out Pre-Expansion Agreement
Schuylkill County (Penn.) officials are trying to remain neutral in a debate over the planned expansion of a local landfill, but are covering their bases if the project goes through. The commissioners have approved an agreement with Pine Grove Landfill, owned by Waste Management, which provides the county with the right to inspect the facility and company operational reports, and provides for tipping fees of $1.50 per ton for in-county waste and $3 per ton for out-of-county waste accepted at the site. The 78-acre landfill is now looking to expand by 100 acres. Commissioners said the agreement does not indicate a show of support from the county, but ensures its involvement with the operation if expansion takes place...Read More »
Teletrak Acquires European Rights To Bioreactor Technology
Teletrak Environmental Systems, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: TAES.OB), a manufacturer of environmental remediation equipment, has announced that its Advanced Environmental Division has acquired the exclusive European rights to a new Aerobic Landfill Bioreactor Technology, already successfully applied at several U.S. landfills. The technology has already had a quick and significant impact on both greenhouse gas reduction and groundwater contamination remediation. Estimates are that the application of the technology will reduce the time required for landfill stabilization from 20 to 30 years to 3 to 5 years...Read More »
Hawaii Governor Seeks Repeal Of Bottle Bill
A bill seeking to clean up litter and reduce landfill waste is under fire from Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle. The bottle bill, passed last year, was hailed as an environmental victory, but Lingle has said the bill is too expensive for a program that will only keep 2 percent of the waste stream out of the landfills. Lingle seeks to repeal the bottle bill and restart volunteer community cleanup programs. She plans to appropriate $300,000 to begin the programs. Environmentalists contend that the bottle bill is a proven success, and would reclaim 80 percent of the 800 million bottles and cans thrown away in Hawaii every year...Read More »
New Study Finds Health Fallout For 9/11 Workers
A new study from the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York has shown that many workers and emergency responders who volunteered in New York after the September 11th terrorist attacks have had lingering health problems related to their rescue, recovery, and cleanup work. The study has provided free screening examinations and medical referrals to about 3,500 workers and emergency personnel. Ten months to one year after September 11, 2001, 73% had symptoms or abnormal findings in physical exams indicating ear, nose, and throat problems. Doctors also saw evidence of lung disease in 57% of them. So far, Mount Sinai's program has received $12 million in federal funding-enough to screen 9,000 of an estimated 35,000 who took part in rescue and recovery efforts by July of this year, when the study is scheduled to conclude...Read More »
Gundle Buys Out Stake In Egyptian Geomembrane Manufacturer
Gundle/SLT Environmental, Inc. (NYSE: GSE) has announced the purchase of its joint-venture partner's 49.99% interest in an Egyptian geomembrane manufacturing joint venture formed in November 1996. Under the terms of the agreement, Hyma Foam Hyma Plastics Co. transferred its interest to GSE in return for the payment of $4 million and the commitment by GSE to purchase a second geomembrane manufacturing line currently under lease to the joint venture at the end of the calendar year 2003 for $950,000. GSE officials said the acquisition is part of the company's continuing strategy of capitalizing on geographic expansion opportunities...Read More »
Environmental Safeguards Begins Work In Arkansas
Environmental Safeguards, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ELSF) has signed a contract to process various waste streams at a facility owned by Rineco Chemical Industries, Inc. in Benton, Arkansas. Environmental Safeguards is using its own proprietary Indirect Thermal Desorption (ITD) technology and equipment. The ITD technology uses a heat jacketed rotating chamber that vaporizes hydro-carbons and hydrocarbon derivatives from contaminated materials, and a condenser that liquefies the vapor into hydrocarbon liquids of better than 99% purity, for reuse. A single ITD unit can process one to 10 short tons of waste per hour, depending on its content...Read More »
King County, Wash. Will Assess Landfill Rent, Develop Transfer Station
King County, Wash. Executive Ron Sims has announced plans to assess $7 million in annual rent payments from the county's landfill, and also to establish a county-owned transfer station. Sims recently had discovered through a property-title search that the county, not the county's solid-waste division, owns the Cedar Hills regional landfill near Renton. Even though the solid-waste division is part of county government, Wilkins explained that, legally, they are separate entities and that state law requires payment at fair rental value. A commercial real-estate firm calculated the rental value of the landfill property at $7 million per year (with an annual escalator) based on the disposal income stream, as long as the landfill is operating. That means the county should have charged the division rent for use of the landfill since 1992, and that after the landfill closes in 2012, it will owe those payments for back rent for the 1992-2003 period. In addition, under a pair of contracts totaling $310,000, the county's solid-waste division has hired HDR Engineering of Omaha, Neb., to help devise a business plan by May to establish a transfer station...Read More »
Allied Waste Shareholders Approve Stock Increase
The shareholders of Allied Waste Industries Inc. (Scottsdale, AZ) have approved a proposal to increase the number of the company's authorized common stock shares from 300 million to 525 million. The company had announced in December that it had 12-million shares available for issuance at that time, and that the authorization of new shares would provide greater flexibility in the marketplace. Allied Waste has not announced any specific proposals for capital market transactions, however...Read More »
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