Mexico Kicks Off Major Pet Recycling Effort
Mexico's Environment Ministry is seeking to recycle at least 35% of the country's PET plastic bottles, reducing by a significant the volume of trash in the country. Mexico's soft drink industry has offered an initial investment of 50 million pesos ($1=MXN10.43) in the program. Around 9 billion PET bottles are distributed in Mexico each year. The Environment Ministry estimates that 90 million of those bottles end up as litter. The PET program will start this year in the country's main metropolitan areas, as well as in some beach towns, such as Cancun. The ministry has set a goal to recycle 2.6 billion PET bottles each year by 2006. To do so, the recycling project will require an estimated $87 million in funding...Read More »
Casella Completes Vermont Waste Services Acquisition
Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CWST) has completed the tuck-in acquisition of a solid waste collection company in its upper Connecticut River Valley market. The company has purchased the assets of All-Waste Services, which provides waste and recyclables collection and hauling services in the Lebanon, New Hampshire; White River Junction, Vermont; and Bellows Falls, Vermont markets. The1 purchase price was approximately $4.3 million...Read More »
XCEL Loses Bid To Store More Nuclear Waste In Minnesota
The Minnesota House has turned down a bill to allow Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL) to store more nuclear waste at its Prairie Island power plant, but the energy company said it could be reconsidered. Earlier, the state Senate had voted to permit extra radioactive waste fuel to be added at the twin-reactor plant in Red Wing, Minnesota. Minneapolis-based Xcel has said it may have to shut the 1,076-megawatt power station in 2007 if it cannot store more used fuel in steel and concrete casks. The plant generates enough electricity for more than 1 million homes. The company needs to add 12 more waste storage casks to the 17 already permitted at Prairie Island...Read More »
Clean Harbors Seeks Delay Of 10-Q Release
Clean Harbors Inc. (NasdaqNM: CLHB) has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to delay releasing its 10-Q quarterly report to investors. The company said it is in talks with its lenders because it did not satisfy the consolidated EBITDA covenant in outstanding loan agreements for the quarter ended March 31, 2003. "Such discussions have not yet been resolved, and the company has therefore determined that it should delay the filing of its Form 10-Q for such fiscal quarter so that such filing can reflect the results of such discussions," the company said...Read More »
Residents File Suit Over Oklahoma Mining Superfund Site
Residents and property owners living within the former Picher Mining Field in Oklahoma, one of the nation's most notorious hazardous waste sites, have filed a class-action lawsuit. Approximately 50 million tons of lead wastes have been left over from mining operations. Many of these lead chat piles approach 200 feet in height and lie within populated areas. The complaint charges Asarco Inc., Blue Tee Corp., Goldfield's Mining Corp., NL Industries Inc., Childress Royalty Company and The Doe Run Corp. with disposing of lead mining wastes...Read More »
U.S. Plastic Lumber Receives Notice of Nasdaq Delisting
U.S. Plastic Lumber Corp. (NasdaqSC: USPL) has received notice from Nasdaq advising that the company has not regained compliance with the minimum $1.00 closing bid price per share requirement, and that its common stock will be delisted from The Nasdaq SmallCap Market at the opening of business on May 23, 2003. The company's board of directors has not yet decided whether to file an appeal with Nasdaq's Listing Qualifications Panel...Read More »
Hawaii Approves Extension Of Honolulu Landfill
The Hawaii Department of Health has approved a permit allowing the city of Honolulu to expand the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill by 15 acres, an expected action that adds about five years of storage capacity. Approval came with about six weeks of capacity remaining at the 64-acre landfill. But with no alternative, approval was in effect a foregone conclusion. The city initially proposed to expand the landfill for 15 years but compromised with the community by agreeing to close it within five. The cost to expand the landfill will be the $7.7 million it costs to operate it annually...Read More »
Fort Gratiot, Michigan Landfill To Close Soon
The state-run Fort Gratiot Sanitary Landfill is being capped and closed, but the paperwork tied to the $6 million project is proving problematic. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has sent a letter to about 110 entities, including Fort Gratiot, to request payment to close the landfill, though it is not certain who disposed of exactly what materials. The Fort Gratiot landfill is known for its role in a landmark early-'90s Supreme Court case, in which Fort Gratiot Township fought to keep out out-of-county waste, and eventually prevailed. For the cleanup, the state will pay $3.9 million to cover the landfill...Read More »
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