Environmental Group Criticizes World Bank Over Incineration
The Washington-based Health Care Without Harm, a consortium of some 375 non-governmental organizations in 40 countries, and the Manila-based Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance, charge that the World Bank has funded or recommended funding at least 156 projects that include incineration, in 68 countries, since 1993, despite a global treaty that requires countries to minimize the use of incinerators that produce toxic pollutants. Since 2001, some 26 projects that included incineration components, have gained the Bank Group's backing, adds the report. The report is entitled "Bankrolling Polluting Technology: The World Bank and Incineration."...Read More »
EPA Approves Superfund Cleanup of Pennsylvania Superfund Site
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that nearly completed work to reduce pollution from a 32 million-ton pile of waste in the Palmerton (Pa.) Superfund site will meet the agency's objectives. The decision means Horsehead Industries will not have to take steps that could have been required by a 1988 EPA decision. The waste pile at the site, laced with heavy metals from decades of zinc smelting and containing tons of municipal garbage, was polluting water that runs down the mountain into Aquashicola Creek. In 1988, the EPA called for Horsehead to cover the waste pile with 18 inches of soil and clay to keep the water from going through the pile. But Horsehead in 1999 proposed its own plan, which EPA approved, calling for a water treatment system, ditches to channel water around the pile, and a 3- to 4-inch cover of grass planted in sewage sludge. Horsehead is handling the cleanup because it owns the former zinc smelting plant, where it recycles hazardous waste to reclaim zinc and other metals...Read More »
DDT Blanket Treatment Appears To Be Successful
A blanket of sand over a giant underwater deposit of the pesticide DDT off the coast of California appears to be working, a study shows. A recent report showed the sand cap installed two years ago over four test areas remained largely free of DDT residue. From 1947 to 1971, the DDT manufacturer Montrose Chemical Corp. discharged the pesticide into sewers that flowed into the ocean. An estimated 1,800 tons of DDT settled on the sea floor over 17 square miles. In 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency declared the deposit off the Palos Verdes Peninsula a Superfund site. EPA officials expect to make a proposal next year to cover about 3 square miles of sea floor with clean sediment dredged from the nearby harbor...Read More »
Southeast Virginia Authority May Alter Collections
About 15,000 residents of the southeastern Virginia communities of Smithfield, Windsor and Suffolk may see major changes to their curbside-recycling program in 2003. The Southeastern Public Service Authority is considering changing the pickup method to avoid replacing expensive trucks and equipment. The newest recycling truck in the SPSA's fleet is about 11 years old, and the SPSA Board of Directors began re-examining curbside pickup because it was facing millions of dollars in replacement costs for a program that had lower-than-expected participation. Only about 30 percent of households in SPSA's service area regularly bring their plastic bins to the curb...Read More »
San Francisco's Zero Waste Could Aid Olympic Bid
The GrassRoots Recycling Network has noted that a recent vote by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopting a zero waste goal makes for a strong contrast with New York City. San Francisco is competing with New York City to be named the official United States entry for the 2012 Summer Games. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted earlier this week to set an aggressive goal of diverting 75 percent of the city's waste by 2010, and to establish the timeline for achieving zero waste as soon as the city reaches a 50 percent diversion rate. San Francisco currently recycles about 49 percent of its waste according to staff, and will reach the 50 percent mark later this year or next year. San Francisco is the first major U.S. city to make a strong commitment to a goal of Zero Waste, GRRN officials said...Read More »
Capital Environmental Reports Quarter-End Results
Capital Environmental Resource Inc. (Nasdaq: CERI) has reported first and second quarter 2002 results. Net income was $333,000 and $1.8 million for the first and second quarters, respectively, for a combined net income of $2.1 million for the six months ending June 30, 2002. Basic and fully diluted earnings per share were $0.07 and $0.06 for the six months ended June 30, 2002. Revenue for the six-month period ended June 30, 2002 was $45.3 million compared to $49.5 million for the comparable period last year. The company also announced that it has acquired five companies, three in Alberta: H&P Disposal, Z Best Waste Systems Inc. and Quality Waste Management Ltd.; one in British Columbia: Active Disposal & Recycling Ltd.; and, one in Ontario: Highland Enterprises...Read More »
Tetra Tech Wins $50 Million DOE Contract
Tetra Tech (Nasdaq: TTEK) has been awarded a $50 million, 5-year contract from the Department of Energy to perform technical services necessary to maintain compliance with the National Environmental Protection Act and associated regulations. The contract helps to ensure that the DOE's proposed defense- and energy-related actions comply with applicable environmental regulations. This indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract is Tetra Tech's second consecutive win of the DOE NEPA program. Under the prior contracts, Tetra Tech successfully prepared over 50 Environmental Impact Statements, Environmental Assessments, and associated studies for DOE at 18 facilities nationwide...Read More »
EPA, DEP Sign Environmental Performance Agreement
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has signed a performance partnership agreement with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the first such agreement for Pennsylvania. The National Environmental Performance Partnership System is designed to offer states greater flexibility in meeting EPA's requirements. Under the agreement, EPA and DEP have agreed to target three priority areas: watershed restoration, enhancing environmentally responsible development, and reducing environmental exposure to citizens, including sensitive populations. Pennsylvania's 21st Century Environment Commission determined in 1998 that land use was the top environmental priority for Pennsylvania. The DEP has instituted a policy to consider land use when making certain permitting decisions, and is providing funding for sound land-use projects...Read More »
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