Texas Governor Signs New Landfill Bill Into Law
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has signed a landmark bill regulating non-hazardous industrial waste landfills. House Bill 2554 could effectively end the original proposal by Kingwood-based TSP Development to construct such a facility in West Chambers County. The new law, when it goes into effect Sept. 1, will require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to adopt rules governing non-hazardous industrial solid waste landfills and apply those new regulations to pending permit applications. In 1996, TSP Development applied for a permit to contract the landfill in Beach City. As originally proposed, the project would have a capacity of 23.9 million cubic yards that could accept up to 811,760 tons of industrial waste annually...Read More »
Germany Strengthens Beverage Recycling Laws
Berlin is toughening its recycling rules to end chaos that followed the January introduction of a new law forcing retailers to charge a deposit on cans and so-called one-way bottles. Under a law introduced in January, German retailers were forced to charge a deposit of between 25 and 50 cents. Now the German Cabinet has approved new draft legislation effectively extending the system for returning non-refillable bottles and cans to include most drink containers. The move to stricter laws for drink containers has already set off concerns across beverage industries that see Germany as major growth market. The law has been problematic since its inception, with some brewers, bottlers, tank stations and supermarkets reporting that sales have plunged by up to 80 percent...Read More »
Senators Work To Create Asbestos Victims' Standards
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT.), who are working on creation of a national fund to compensate asbestos victims, said they have resolved differences over the medical standards that would underpin compensation levels. Still to be resolved are questions over what amounts to assign the 10 categories of asbestos-linked lung scarring and cancer that have been agreed upon, and whether the $108 billion fund will be sufficient. Asbestos was widely used for fireproofing and insulation until the 1970s, when scientists concluded that inhaled fibers could be linked to cancer and other diseases. Injury claims have driven at least 60 companies to seek bankruptcy protection...Read More »
August Mack Wins Ohio Tire Treatment Contract
August Mack Environmental has been selected by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to provide environmental consulting at the Kirby Tire Recycling Facility in Dublin, Ohio. The contract, worth $837,000, begins on July 1, 2003 and ends June 30, 2005. Four years ago, arsonists set fire to the facility, creating an eighteen-acre fire that burned over seven million tires. As the tires burned, they generated millions of gallons of oils. In order to extinguish the blaze, soil was dumped on the site, which stopped the fire, but buried the tires. As a result, August Mack will aid in groundwater treatment and soil remediation after oil trapped inside the buried tires contaminated surrounding groundwater and soil...Read More »
Kankakee Developer Pitches Landfill Once Again
Landfill siting hearings held one year ago for the proposed Kankakee Regional Landfill in Kankakee, Illinois have been voided, and the developer of the 236-acre facility is seeking approval from Kankakee lawmakers once again. The city council had previously issued a unanimous vote in support of the landfill, but the Illinois Pollution Control Board reversed the city council decision in a legal appeal spearheaded by the Kankakee County Board and Waste Management, who are trying to site a competing landfill. One question still unanswered is whether the Kankakee County Board can restrict landfills outside of its jurisdiction...Read More »
South Korea Prepares For World's Largest Landfill Gas Plant
The South Korea Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy has approved a project to build the world's largest power plant to be fueled with landfill gas as part of its effort to expand the use of alternative energy in Korea. Proposed by Eco Energy, the 50,000-kilowatt power plant will be operated with methane gas from a landfill mine in Baekseok-dong, Incheon. Once completed, the facility will produce about 400,000 megawatt-hours of electricity, which is enough to supply about 100,000 homes. Projected to cost about 9.49 billion won ($7.97 million) in total, the construction will begin this October and end in October 2005 for business launch in November of that year. Eco Energy will build the plant, manage it for 11 years, and then transfer operations to the Korean government...Read More »
Waste Management Sues Albion Over Landfill Denial
Waste Management has filed suit in New York State Supreme Court in Orleans County over the Albion Town Board's May 19 decision to deny permits for a landfill proposed along the banks of the Erie Canal. Waste Management had proposed to open the 72-acre Towpath Environmental and Recycling Center on an existing landfill. The new landfill would have expanded the Orleans Sanitary Landfill, which closed in the early 1990s when its owner was charged with accepting too much trash and falsifying business records. Waste Management contracted with the owner's bankruptcy trustees to cap that landfill and take over operations at the site. Albion board members unanimously rejected the proposed expansion, citing its proximity to the canal, its potential to harm tourism and the increase in truck traffic it would generate...Read More »
Polk County Declines Regional Landfill Proposal
Polk County, North Carolina has turned down a million dollars to accept a proposal for a regional landfill. The county commission voted instead to create a new transfer station and ship the county's trash to Union County, South Carolina. The county is still reparing the former Little Mountain Landfill, which was found to be leaking, and its Construction and Demolition landfill is nearing capacity...Read More »
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