Waste News articles from April 2002

Waste News archives from April 2002

New Products & Technology.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... INDUSTRIAL SCIENTIFIC CORP. has introduced the AirAware Gas Monitoring System in a new low-profile enclosure. The AirAware is a wall-mounted detector capable of monitoring six gases: carbon monoxide, chlorine, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen...

Interstate waste flow facts.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... * 30 million tons of municipal solid waste crosses state borders annually * All states but Hawaii export or import trash * Pennsylvania imported the most trash in 2001, about 13 million tons * Nine states and Washington, D.C.,...

Waste News Stock Report.
April 1, 2002... graphic: see printed publication.

Compost kings ; Massive Oregon dairy farm finding use for cow manure.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A 93,000-acre farm in rural Oregon expects to become one of the world's largest composting facilities as part of its massive dairy operations. Threemile Canyon Farms already is producing 250 tons of manure-based compost each day from waste...

Firms aim to reduce chemical waste.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Industrial waste generators are shifting the way they buy chemicals, moving to managed programs to reduce hazardous waste and the liability and expense attached to it. Chemical management reduces a company's cost of chemical use and...

Kelly James Mercer.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A longtime employee Excel Manufacturing in St. Charles died as a result of a traffic accident involving a car and a school bus. Kelly James Mercer, 33, of St. Charles, died Feb. 10 along with his wife, Jodi, his father and a family friend....

Feds pursue former WMI execs in accounting mess.(Waste Management Inc., accounting fraud)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A founder of Waste Management Inc. is one of six former company executives under federal attack for his alleged involvement in massive accounting fraud at the company he created. Former Chairman and CEO Dean L. Buntrock was ``the driving...

Court backs air standards; Industries, cities may feel effect of tighter soot, smog rules.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A federal court rejected an appeal from several business groups and upheld the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's right to impose strict new regulations on air quality. ``Today's unanimous decision is a significant victory in EPA's...

Steffen Plehn.(Obituary)
April 1, 2002... A former Environmental Protection Agency official who helped develop the nation's hazardous waste regulatory program died last month in a Boston hospital. Steffen Walter Plehn, 64, died of complications from cancer March 13 at Brigham and...

Hold your horses ; Colorado blocks shipment of radioactive waste from N.J.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Colorado Department of Public Health, with the urging of Gov. Bill Owens, has halted the planned shipment of radioactive waste from a New Jersey Superfund site to a disposal facility southwest of Colorado Springs. The state delayed the...

Preventing status quo ; Ky. nonprofit promotes long-term changes for businesses that want to reduce waste.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... True increases in pollution prevention require innovative thinking that will fundamentally change how companies operate. ``If you really look at root causes and you really look at new technology and you really get a commitment from...

Olympic results ; Organizers exceed recycling goals.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Olympians and their fans sure know how to take care of their trash. Final numbers are in for the Herculean effort to make sure as much waste as possible generated at the recently completed Winter Games in Salt Lake City stayed out of...

EPA assailed from left, right.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman faced criticism from Democrats and at least one Republican during a recent appearance before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee. Democrats criticized the Bush administration...

In Brief.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Enforce Canadian pact, Michigan urges Washington - A Michigan Democratic congressman wants to force Canada to notify U.S. officials of impending shipments of municipal solid waste into the United States. For the past decade, Canada has...

NYC mayor weighs WTE.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... New York City is taking a serious look at a waste-to-energy alternative to trash disposal in an effort to reduce the city's huge deficit. Sanitation Commission John J. Doherty brought up the possibility during a City Council meeting last...

WTE worth considering.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... New York City is looking at waste-to-energy as part of a solution to its current budget crisis. That's going to make some citizens and environmentalists unhappy, but it's an idea worth exploring. The city, reeling economically after Sept....

Power position.(Clean Energy Group wants to establish national emission standards)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A new report on power companies and air pollution has stirred a bit of controversy among industry waste and environmental managers. The study, compiled by three organizations, claims that less than 20 percent of the power companies in the...

Safety-Kleen foresees brighter 2003.(may soon emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Safety-Kleen Corp., a hazardous and non-hazardous waste management firm, may emerge from protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code by the end of this year. ``As a result of some tough decisions we've made and the commitment...

FDA OKs Ohio firm's needle-melting device.(Safeguard Medical Devices' electric-arc needle disintegrator)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Between 2 million to 5 million Americans with diabetes dispose of an average of five used hypodermic syringes each day, according to the American Diabetes Association. That puts between 3.6 billion and 9 billion used needles into the waste...

WMI drops Arthur Andersen.(Waste Management Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Waste Management Inc.'s sometimes-rocky history with Arthur Andersen LLP is over. The nation's largest solid waste management company decided to part ways with the beleaguered auditing firm March 21 as the list of public companies ditching...

Biomass gaining support.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Senate has passed a minimum renewable energy standard that could boost biomass power development. The Senate voted last month to include in the energy bill a requirement that investor-owned utilities produce at least 10 percent of...

Ohio city settles sewage lawsuit.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The city of Youngstown has reached a settlement that will eliminate 800 million gallons of illegal sewage discharges annually. The city will spend $100 million over the next 20 years on improvements as part of the agreement with the...

Supplier News.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Haldex puts lock on acquisition Kansas City, Mo. - The Haldex Group has finalized its acquisition of the Anchorlok air brake actuator and Neway suspension control valve businesses from the Holland Group of Holland, Mich. Manufacturing...

Letters.(Brief Article)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2002... Touch up the survey In your Municipal Recycling Survey [Feb. 4, Pages 11-17], under the subheading ``Collection methods'' in the line item ``Curbside: How materials collected,'' one of two responses is given: source-separated or...

Waste News Commodity Pricing Report.
April 1, 2002... table and graph: see printed publication.

Some groups give NEPSI tepid response.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Environmental groups are cautiously optimistic about the electronic industry's move toward front-end fees to pay for electronics recycling. ``After a year of discussions, this is a good first step forward,'' said Ted Smith, executive...

Boise Cascade resolves dispute over emissions.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... Boise Cascade Corp. has agreed to pay a $4.35 million penalty to the federal government and to spend another $15 million to improve control of air emissions at eight plywood and particleboard plants. A deal with the Environmental Protection...

N.C. hog farm dumps in river.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... A hog slaughtering and processing company faces a possible $500,000 fine after pleading guilty to conspiracy to violate the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Greenville, N.C., a...

Earnings.
April 1, 2002... table: see printed publication.

Senate hears interstate waste arguments.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... Senators have begun hearing arguments from supporters and opponents of bills that would allow states to control interstate waste shipments. The two sides squared off before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on March 20. ...

Report: Electric firms need more oversight.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... Less than 20 power companies account for 50 percent of the air pollution generated by the 100 largest electric companies, according to a report released last month in Washington. The report calls for more legislation to limit power plant...

A Look Back.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 1969: The city of Seattle institutes a new fee structure for garbage collection. Residents pay a base rate for up to four cans of garbage and a supplementary fee for each additional bundle or can. Five years ago: A rift between the National...

Ill. reports waste reduction.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The amount of solid waste generated in Illinois is falling slightly, according to estimates just released by the state Environmental Protection Agency. The state agency's latest solid waste management and capacity report shows that 15.1...

Struck down ; Court overturns franchise ruling.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A federal appeals court has overturned a lower court's ruling that garbage containing recyclables constitutes property and therefore can be hauled without interference from local jurisdictions. The March 12 ruling affirms the right of...

Long-lived litter.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... Glass, plastic, aluminum and rubber items are the most environmentally persistent types of litter commonly found along roadways. Item / Years to Decompose Glass bottle / Approx. 1 million Plastic 6-pack cover / 450 Aluminum...

Pa. perspective.(waste disposal capacity)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 15, 2002... Pennsylvania's remaining waste disposal capacity is seen as a problem by haulers, but not by state officials. Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association: 6.3 years* State Department of Environmental Protection: 12 years# * Landfill...

A switch in momentum.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... With its new law addressing automotive mercury switches, Maine has enhanced its reputation as a quirky state that likes to go its own way. Whether Maine's move will accelerate a resolution to the problem or further complicate it is the...

Senate Dems criticize Superfund progress.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 15, 2002... Senate Democrats last week criticized the Bush administration for slowing the completion of cleanups at Superfund sites, but an administration spokeswoman denied the allegations, saying critics aren't measuring the progress accurately. ...

Hauler connects Southern puzzle.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... Waste Connections Inc. is making another six acquisitions, including a group of companies serving portions of Tennessee and Georgia that will complement existing operations. The largest of the deals is Ocoee Environmental Inc., based near...

NYC weighs creating recycling authority.(New York City)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... The New York City Council wants to separate the city's recycling program from the city Sanitation Department because some council members believe the department has run the program ineffectively. ``Unfortunately, in this city, since the...

At Deadline.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... C&D debris recycling center opens in N.Y. Montgomery, N.Y. - A new $3 million, 35,000-sq.-ft. construction and demolition debris processing center has opened in Montgomery, N.Y. Taylor Recycling Facility LLC held a grand opening April...

Health care group criticizes Stericycle.(Health Care Without Harm)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... Health Care Without Harm has released a report calling on Stericycle Inc., the nation's largest medical waste disposal services company, to step up its environmental and worker safety policies. ``Stericycle has an obligation to provide...

New Products & Technology.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... NEOSAFETY has added a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act training module to its NeoSafety Training System industrial safety education software. The new version contains 25 safety-related training applications on one interactive CD-ROM....

Waste in the Cities.
April 15, 2002... One of the characteristics that defines America is its diversity. It's a heterogeneous blend of peoples and cultures. Americans live in huge, densely populated metropolises, small farming communities, cities that grew from an industrial core....

Avert whiplash.(New York City Council)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... The New York City Council may not have launched the perfect recycling plan, but it shows promise. What's more, the council's idea of creating a recycling authority separate from the Sanitation Department answers Mayor Bloomberg's plea to `think...

Mining firms to pay for Mont. cleanup.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... America's largest body of contaminated water will receive an estimated $110 million cleanup thanks to a settlement reached by the U.S. Department of Justice and several mining companies. Berkeley Pit in Butte, Mont., encompasses 23 square...

Verizon faces nuclear waste suit.(Westbury, New York lawsuit)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... Residents in a Long Island town have filed a $1.6 billion lawsuit against Verizon Communications Inc., claiming the company's dormant nuclear waste site is causing cancer in their neighborhood. Twenty-five families in Westbury, N.Y., filed...

Mo. town repeals bottle bill.(Columbia, Missouri law)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... Voters in Columbia have repealed the city's container deposit law, the first time a bottle bill has been overturned in the United States. In a vote that was watched closely in bottle bill circles around the country, the city's electorate...

State's car shops to help repair mercury damage.(Oregon)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... Car repair facilities in Oregon are removing mercury light switches from motorists' cars free of charge as part of the state's effort to eliminate the release of mercury into the environment by 2020. Automobile switches were identified as a...

Va. seeks trash fee.(Virginia)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner wants to impose a $5-per-ton fee on trash deposited in Virginia landfills to fund open space preservation, water quality improvement, recycling, solid waste management and the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield...

A Look Back.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... Five years ago: The announcement of a planned merger between USA Waste Services Inc. and United Waste Systems Inc. causes both firms' stock prices to plummet. United Waste's stockholders complain that the $1.7 billion price tag is too low, and...

WTE giant files for bankruptcy.(waste-to-energy, Covanta Energy Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... Covanta Energy Corp., which operates 27 waste-to-energy facilities, filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on April 1. The company will continue to operate its core energy and water facilities, which will be...

Pa. researchers try to nullify discharge.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh are developing a process to decolorize water discharges from pulp and paper mills, textile dye operations and numerous other industries. A pilot project testing the effectiveness of...

Ore. leaders tout state's progress; Programs aim to reduce environmental impact.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 15, 2002... The state of Oregon is making significant progress toward improving the environment and achieving its goal of sustainability by 2025, according to Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, the No. 2 man in state government. Gov. John Kitzhaber, a...

In Brief.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 15, 2002... OSHA makes ergonomics voluntary Washington - The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has unveiled a comprehensive plan to reduce ergonomic injuries using voluntary guidelines for industry rather than mandatory rules. OSHA...

Alabama solution ; Chemical company helps clean up PCBs.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 15, 2002... Solutia Inc. and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have struck a deal aimed at the eventual cleanup of what the federal government calls serious polychlorinated biphenyl contamination in and around Anniston. Under the agreement,...

Dueling numbers; Pa., haulers differ on disposal capacity.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 15, 2002... Pennsylvania's landfill capacity is diminishing to a point where waste generators will start facing higher disposal costs, one group believes. But the state Department of Environmental Protection has released statistics that show landfill...

Corrections.(page 9, Waste News, April 1, 2002)(page 13,)(page 13, March 18.)(Correction Notice)
April 15, 2002... * A headline on Page 9 of the April 1 issue should have identified a North Carolina business as a hog slaughtering and processing company. * A news brief that appeared on Page 13 of the April 1 issue should have said that Burbank, Calif.,...

We've come so far(?).(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... ``In judging the success or failure of works for the disposal of the various sorts of city refuse, it should be remembered that comparatively few cities, the world over, have yet placed the disposal of the great aggregations of waste materials...

Mob mentality - NYC breaks longtime grip.(mob control of waste management)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 15, 2002... There's long been a darker side to waste management in cities. And no place has this been more evident than in New York. In 1956 New York City privatized its commercial waste hauling. In came organized crime, and for 40 years it controlled...

Top of the heap in so many ways; Few alleys and cramped quarters create unique issues for New York.(Statistical Data Included)
April 15, 2002... New York City is about people. A heck of a lot of people in a very small space. With a population of 8 million, it's twice as big as the next largest city in the United States and has been for more than 150 years. It has more people than...

Whole lotta eatin' goin' on; Tourism-based economy's hotels, restaurants produce outsize proportion of organic waste.(Santa Fe, New Mexico)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... There's food waste and plenty of it. Santa Fe, rich in cultural heritage and scenic beauty, attracts a steady stream of visitors from around the world. There are plenty of festivals to keep the throngs coming in the summer. Skiing on nearby...

Art-tourism magnet breeds offbeat views; Santa Fe attracts liberals, spiritual seekers - and its waste policies reflect that eclectic mix.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... Santa Fe, sometimes known as the City Different, has long been a mecca for artisans and those who march to a different beat. The New Mexico capital prides itself as a nontraditional place, and the attitudes of local folks certainly...

Homes for sale ; Mo. lead cleanup spurs unique offer.(Herculaneum, Missouri)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... The owner of a lead smelter south of St. Louis will offer to buy out 160 homeowners living near its operations because of concerns about lead contamination. Doe Run Co., which operates a smelter in Herculaneum, Mo., agreed to make the...

Wis. grocers bag landfill for compost.(WasteCap Wisconsin)(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... A handful of grocery stores are diverting a significant amount of their waste stream from landfills through a pilot program that targets produce waste. Halfway through the three-month pilot program, six Waukesha grocery stores have removed...

Maine puts mercury onus on automakers.(Brief Article)
April 15, 2002... Maine this month became the first state in the nation to mandate that automobile manufacturers take responsibility for removal and disposal of mercury in used cars and trucks - and the vehicle makers don't like it one bit. The bill, passed...

The Oakland process.(waste to compost)
April 29, 2002... 1. 55 Oakland area businesses generate 300 tons of food waste per month. 2. Golden Gate Disposal & Recycling Co. collects the food waste. 3. Golden Gate transports the material to Norcal's Jepson Prairie Organics compost facility. ...

Uphill battle.(nuclear waste)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 29, 2002... U.S. nuclear waste facts and figures: * Amount of nuclear waste stored in U.S. - 44,000 tons * Lifetime capacity of Nevada's Yucca Mountain site - 77,000 tons * By 2040, amount of nuclear waste generated in U.S. - 130,000 tons ...

Waste News Stock Report.(Brief Article)
April 29, 2002... graphic: see printed publication.

Va. rep suggests changes to interstate waste bill.
April 29, 2002... U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis, R-Va., has proposed changes to a pending bill that would allow states greater control over limiting out-of-state waste shipments to landfills. Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, said he supports the changes. House...

Court OKs mill discharge limits.
April 29, 2002... A federal appeals court has upheld water pollution discharge limits for pulp and paper mills that were being challenged by the National Wildlife Federation. The regulations, which were adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in...

EPA ombudsman resigns after lockout.
April 29, 2002... Environmental Protection Agency national ombudsman Robert Martin resigned this month after a federal judge refused to block the EPA from transferring the ombudsman to the agency's Office of the Inspector General. Martin submitted his...

Poultry flap in Kentucky; Sierra Club sues Tyson over chicken waste emissions.(Brief Article)
April 29, 2002... A well-known environmental group is suing Tyson Foods, alleging Superfund reporting violations surrounding ammonia emissions from chicken waste created at four Kentucky farms. ``It comes back to too many chickens in too small space...

Finding oil spill culprit a complicated matter.(Brief Article)
April 29, 2002... Last week, the U.S. Coast Guard and environmental investigators were trying to contain a massive oil spill in the Rouge River in Detroit. Not only did they have to try to contain thousands of gallons of oil floating in the river, but they...

In Brief.(includes multiple records)(Brief Article)
April 29, 2002... Court vetoes pollution credit trading limits Albany, N.Y. - A federal judge has struck down a New York state law that restricted pollution credit trading. The Air Pollution Mitigation Law had imposed penalties on New York utilities...

Dime scheme has potential.(bottle recycling)(Brief Article)
April 29, 2002... The new national bottle bill proposal before the U.S. Senate won't be loved by beverage makers, but they should take a hard look at it. It's a plan that allows them a larger say than a lot of potential legislation. The proposal, introduced...

NYC may cut waste jobs; Budget crunch may force layoffs of as many as 265, city says.
April 29, 2002... Some 265 sanitation workers may be out of a job if the city doesn't receive $1.3 billion in union concessions and federal and state aid. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's revised $41 billion budget includes a contingency plan that calls for $65...

More Enron fallout; Deal with Conn. WTE group goes sour.
April 29, 2002... Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has filed a lawsuit against Arthur Andersen LLP to recoup $220 million the state lost after Enron Corp. collapsed last year. ``Andersen was the prime enabler of Enron's fraud,'' Blumenthal...

House committee OKs Nev. nuclear site plan.(legislation surrounding storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain)(Brief Article)
April 29, 2002... A House committee last week sent forward a plan to override Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn's veto of the federal government's proposal to turn Yucca Mountain into a national storage repository for nuclear waste. The House Energy and Commerce...

Pink-slip roulette.(for New York City's Sanitation Department workers)(Brief Article)
April 29, 2002... New York's streets and sidewalks used to be a lot dirtier than they are today; the difference from even a decade ago is evident everywhere. And the Lower Manhattan canyon-streets that terrorists transformed into a bombed-out moonscape seven and...

Correction.
April 29, 2002... A new product on Page 15 of the April 1 issue should have said SAC Recycling Trucks has developed two separate products. The first is a movable divider-compartment door that can be adjusted to several positions to allow varying amounts of...

Landfill likely for spilled oil.(from Rouge River spill)(Brief Article)
April 29, 2002... It appears industrial oil recovered from a mysterious spill on the Rouge River will not be recycled as originally planned as investigators continue to search for the culprit. The U.S. Coast Guard is nearing completion of the cleanup,...

Landfills, air polluters at heart of suit.(Sierra Club sues US Environmental Protection Agency)(Brief Article)
April 29, 2002... The Sierra Club filed a lawsuit April 25 accusing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of dragging its feet on controlling toxic emissions from more than 80,000 major sources of air pollution. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of...

Green arches; McDonald's first report on social responsibility details company's move toward sustainability.(Brief Article)
April 29, 2002... McDonald's Corp. is on a quest to convert from the traditional reduce-reuse-recycle approach to a methodology that embraces the broader concept of environmental sustainability. But defining and executing a sustainability strategy is a...