Akron-Area Landfill Closure Deal Moving Slowly Toward Completion
Nearly six months after reaching a deal to close the Hardy Road Landfill for good, the legal work to finalize the pact between Akron, Waste Management and Cuyahoga Falls still has not been finalized. As a part of the agreement, Akron has agreed to pay $1 million and Cuyahoga Falls will pay $800,000 for Waste Management of Ohio to drop the company's original plan to seek to expand the landfill by 106 acres. Another key component in the closing of the landfill, idle since June 2002, is also progressing; the Summit-Akron Solid Waste Management Authority has agreed to raise the county's trash-generation fee from $2.75 to $5 a ton...Read More »
Indiana Court Of Appeals Rules Against Gary Developer
The Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled that a Gary developer cannot put a landfill in an industrial park, reversing a LaPorte County Superior Court decision that had ruled in favor of Town and Country Utilities' landfill plan. Town and Country took the matter before LaPorte Superior Court over an ordinance that it felt gave the county too much authority in deciding if a landfill could be built. A Superior judge agreed with Town and Country last October, saying the county commission overstepped its bounds and ruling that the zoning ordinance was invalid. But the appeals court ruled last week that the county commission does have authority to adopt zoning ordinances because it regulates the use of land...Read More »
Buffalo Waste Will Be Sent To Outside Landfill
An out-of-state landfill has agreed to accept 400 rail cars full of waste that have sat in a Buffalo, N.Y. rail yard since February. A state Supreme Court-issued gag order has prevented the revelation of details behind the shipment. The city of Buffalo and the state attorney general's office have brought legal action against New York City-based Chem-Rail Logistics, which was hired to dispose of the New Jersey waste. The company shipped the garbage to Buffalo in the rail cars, and trucks were to haul it to a Lewiston landfill. In February, the Modern Landfill began refusing the waste because Chem-Rail had not paid its bill...Read More »
Waste Connections Landfill Dealt Courtroom Setback
Residents of Harper County, Kansas, who have been fighting to keep Wichita's trash out of their back yard, recently won a significant victory that will delay and possibly kill the proposed landfill. Waste Connections, the largest trash company serving Wichita, has already started construction on a landfill for Wichita's trash near the town of Harper. But Tri County Concerned Citizens, a group of opponents, sued to block the landfill, and a district judge has ruled in its favor. Judge Robert Schmisseur ruled that the Harper County Commission had made up its mind to approve zoning for the landfill before holding hearings on the issue, denying residents a fair hearing. Waste Connections currently ships most of Wichita's trash 150 miles to a landfill near Meno, Okla...Read More »
Wisconsin Supreme Court Holds Insurers Liable In Superfund Sites
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that insurance companies must cover some of the costs incurred by the businesses they insure to clean up federally designated toxic waste sites. The court admitted its own ruling nine years ago that limited the liability for insurance companies in cleanups of Superfund sites had created an "unworkable interpretation" of an insurer's duty to share some of the cleanup costs. The court noted in its 5-2 decision that its new ruling brought Wisconsin in line with other states in treating cleanup costs for those sites as damages under the policies businesses have with their insurers...Read More »
EU Lays Down Law On Lead-Bearing Electronics Products
As of July 1, 2006, electronics products with lead and five other toxic substances will be banned from all markets in the European Union. Products that do not comply will be blocked out of America's largest export market. The U.S. ships about $40 billion worth of high-tech goods to Europe annually. The European Union had discussed the ban for some time, but many industry observers were surprised when it actually became law early this year under the so-called RoHS Directive. RoHS stands for Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances...Read More »
Dell Implements New Computer Recycling Campaign
Dell Computer has launched a recycling campaign aimed at businesses and public customers. The nation's largest computer maker will charge customers as little as $49 to dispose of computers safely. As part of an "Asset Recovery" program, Dell executives have reiterated their promise to stop using prison labor to recycle computers. Until last week, Dell shipped used computers to UNICOR, a self-sustaining corporation that uses prison laborers, part of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Washington-based UNICOR employs 1,100 convicts in recycling, paying them 20 cents to $1.26 per hour...Read More »
US EPA Releases New Industrial Waste Management Guide
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released its Best Practices Guide for Industrial Waste Management. The guide provides information and resources to help companies, governments, policymakers and individuals better understand and manage the estimated 7 billion tons of non-hazardous industrial wastes generated annually. The guide, on CD-ROM, includes tutorials, fact sheets, a mapping application, and models for evaluating waste impacts on soil, water, and air.
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