EPA Costs Are Among Highest Increases In Federal Government
The administrative costs of federal regulation are budgeted to reach an all-time high of $30.1 billion in 2003, as more money is devoted to the environment, transportation security, and securities regulation, according to a new report issued jointly by the Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. The budget request for 2004 suggests a slight decline from the 2003 peak to $28.9 billion. The largest increases in spending in 2003 were at the Environmental Protection Agency and the newly formed Department of Homeland Security. Both Homeland Security and the Environmental Protection Agency received over $1 billion in additional spending in 2003, over a 25 percent increase over 2002...Read More »
PDG Secures Two Seattle Contracts
PDG Environmental, Inc. (OTC BB: PDGE) has begun work on two separate asbestos abatement projects in the Seattle area worth a total of $3.2 million. A yearlong project at Sea-Tac International Airport will bring PDG Environmental $900,000 in revenues. The second project, also a year long, will remove asbestos from a luxury apartment complex and demolish the interior in preparation for rebuilding, a project worth $2.3 million. PDG Environmental, Inc., is an environmental and specialty contractor providing asbestos and lead abatement, insulation, microbial remediation and demolition and related services...Read More »
Safety-Kleen Turnaround Plan Delayed By Dispute With Lenders
A dispute between Safety-Kleen Corp.'s loan providers in the U.S. and Canada threatens to delay the company's proposed turnaround plan. Disputing the proper allocation of new common and preferred stock to the Canadian lenders under the plan, some lenders who provided Safety-Kleen with credit facilities in the U.S. before its Chapter 11 filing have said they may vote against the plan. To remove this threat to confirmation of its plan, Safety-Kleen has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., to allow it to delay turning over the new equity directly to the Canadian lenders. A hearing on the matter is set for Aug. 1. Safety-Kleen, based in Columbia, S.C., filed for bankruptcy protection June 9, 2000, listing assets of $4.45 billion and liabilities of $ 3.14 billion. The company is 44% owned by Laidlaw Inc., which itself filed for bankruptcy court protection in the U.S. and Canada in June 2001...Read More »
Casella Announces Fourth-Quarter And Year-End Results
Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CWST) has reported financial results for the fourth quarter and its 2003 fiscal year. For the quarter ended April 30, 2003, the company reported revenues of $94.5 million. The company's net loss per common share from continuing operations was $0.13. Operating income for the quarter was $250,000. The company's EBITDA and an impairment charge were $17.1 million. For the fiscal year ended April 30, 2003, the company reported revenues of $420.9 million. The fiscal year net income per common share from continuing operations was $0.13. Operating income for the year was $34.0 million. EBITDA for the twelve-month period was $86.7 million...Read More »
Battery Industry Recycles Nearly 100 Percent of Lead
The lead-acid battery industry recycled 97.1 percent of spent battery lead, or 10.5 billion pounds, from 1997 to 2001, according to a new report issued by Battery Council International. According to the data, the lead-acid battery remains as the nation's most highly recycled consumer product. The lead-acid battery industry, which is the country's largest user of lead, has been recycling and reclaiming lead from its spent products for nearly 75 years. Battery Council International, a not-for-profit organization that represents the international lead-acid battery manufacturing and recycling industry, has tracked the lead recycling rate from spent (or used) automotive, truck, motorcycle, marine, garden tractor and other lead-acid batteries since 1987...Read More »
Gundle/SLT Reports 2Q 2003 Results
Gundle/SLT Environmental, Inc. (NYSE: GSE), a global provider of geosynthetic lining solutions, products and services, has announced second quarter 2003 results. GSE reported net income of $7.9 million, or 65 cents per diluted share, for the second quarter ended June 30, 2003, compared to net income of $5.1 million, or 43 cents per share, for the second quarter of 2002. Revenue for the second quarter of 2003 was $86.9 million compared to $81.9 million for the second quarter of last year. The dollar value of the company's backlog at June 30, 2003 was $99 million compared to $101 million at the same time last year...Read More »
Pennsylvania DEP Strikes Down Proposal To Build Landfill Near State Park
A controversial four-year-old proposal to build a landfill next to a state park in Pennsylvania's Butler County has been rejected by the state Department of Environmental Protection. Sechan Limestone Industries Inc. had proposed a 42-acre, nonhazardous waste landfill for a former quarry 300 yards from the park. But DEP's analysis identified a number of potential harms: loss of tourism and recreational opportunities, lowered property values, unsightliness, and increased traffic, noise and air emissions. The use of a harms-benefits analysis during landfill permit reviews is required by Pennsylvania's residual waste regulations...Read More »
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