Weekly News Bulletin: Nov. 4-10, 2003

 

Foster Wheeler South Africa Wins New Waste Recycling Contract

Foster Wheeler Ltd.'s (NYSE: FWC) subsidiary, Foster Wheeler South Africa (Pty) Limited, has won a $45 million engineering, procurement and construction management contract by Sasol Synfuels Limited for a new waste recycling facility at Sasol's Secunda operations in South Africa. This waste recycling facility, with a total investment value of 500 million rand (approximately $75 million), will be the first of its kind in Africa. The new waste recycling facility will treat the waste from the largest coal-to-liquids plant in the world...Read More »

 

 

IESI Releases Third Quarter Earnings Report

IESI Corporation has reported that revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2003 increased 12.2 percent to $64.2 million, as compared with revenue of $57.2 million for the same period in 2002. Net income for the quarter was a loss of $(2.7) million, as compared with a loss of $(264,000) for the same period in 2002. During the quarter, IESI purchased assets from Waste Corporation of Texas, including three hauling operations and one transfer station. In addition, the company commenced operations during the quarter at landfills in Texas, Missouri, and Louisiana...Read More »

 

 

Alcan Releases Study Showing Decline In Aluminum Recycling

Alcan Inc. has conducted a new survey revealing that the national recycling rate for aluminum beverage cans has dropped to nearly 50 percent. However, 70 percent of Americans say they recycle aluminum cans "always" or "often," according to the survey. Ten years ago, highs for recycling reached nearly 70 percent; today, nearly half of all recyclable aluminum, worth an estimated $800 million, is dumped in landfills. The survey was conducted as part of America Recycles Day on November 15...Read More »

 

 

King County, Wash. Tipping Fee Increase Concerns Haulers, Cities

A proposed tipping fee increase at the Cedar Hills Landfill in King County, Washington has caused local garbage haulers to consider the possibility of taking their waste elsewhere, according to the Seattle Times. Some Seattle-area cities, concerned that changes in the county's dumping policies could mean higher rates for their residents, are also considering other options for their garbage disposal. The area's two major haulers, Rabanco and Waste Management, are currently meeting with the Metropolitan King County Council over the proposed $10-a-ton increase in the tipping fee at the county landfill. The county's Solid Waste Division has said it is seeking to raise the rate in order to recoup the true cost of handling the haulers' waste...Read More »

 

 

North Carolina Commissioners Reject Waste Management Landfill Plan

Guilford County, North Carolina's commissioners have voted to stop plans for a 235-acre landfill proposed by Waste Management for a site near Oak Ridge. Waste Management had asked commissioners to overturn a decision by the county's planning board to reject their plan to build the landfill. The company had contended that the state's regulations and landfill designs will protect the environment, but commissioners overrode those arguments to deny the landfill...Read More »

 

 

Delaware Officials Seek Inquiry Into Cherry Island Landfill

Delaware environmental officials are seeking studies of pollution risks at the Cherry Island Landfill near Wilmington in the wake of signs that the facility may have contaminated nearby groundwater. The concerns could delay action on the Delaware Solid Waste Authority's request for a permit needed to begin a $66 million repair and expansion plan at Cherry Island. The facility is the state's busiest, and regulators have warned that they may have to begin restricting waste flow by 2006 without the project...Read More »

 

 

Anniston Incinerator Gets False Positive Alarm

A positive reading on a sarin monitor at the Anniston (Ala.) chemical weapons incinerator was triggered by a worker who accidentally tested a live nerve gas monitor rather than by a machine taken offline for maintenance. Both an initial and a backup test confirmed the presence of sarin, but officials suspected employee error because the readings in both tests were exactly the same. Under normal circumstances, the readings would have had slight differences. The incinerator has been operating for the past three months working to destroy more than 660,000 chemical weapons that have been stockpiled at the depot for decades...Read More »

 

 

Harrisburg Incinerator Will Receive $72 Million Upgrade

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's outdated incinerator will receive a $72 million overhaul and reopen in 2006. At that point, it will handle much of the area's waste. The facility will receive up to $125 million in financing for the project, which will include funding to demolish portions of the old facility and establish contingency funds and reserve accounts. Of the $125 million, about $12 million will go straight into the city's coffers in an effort to shore up a budget passed last year that depended heavily on the incinerator's financing...Read More »

 

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