Illinois Governor, Chicago Official Continue To Spar Over Landfill
Illinois' landfill industry is becoming a battleground between Gov. Rod Blagojevich (www.illinois.gov/gov) and his father-in-law, Chicago Alderman Richard Mell. Blagojevich has backed legislation that includes a provision barring landfill ownership by relatives of top state officials. But Mell, whose family owns a landfill, has issued public denunciations of the bill. Illinois EPA officials said the bill is designed to increase regulatory oversight and enforcement of landfills, and is not specifically aimed at Mell. The feud dates to January, when Blagojevich ordered a landfill owned by a distant cousin of his wife shut down after that owner boasted that his connections allowed him to evade permit requirements...Read More »
Steel Recycling Rate Increases Sharply
The Steel Recycling Institute (www.recycle-steel.org) has announced that the recycling rate for steel remained constant at 70.7 percent in 2004. However, total tons of steel recycled increased by over 7.2 million tons. The 76 million tons of scrap steel recycled in 2004 was the most scrap recycled in more than 25 years. The composition of the tonnage recycled in 2004 contained almost 35 percent more obsolete scrap than in 1980, indicating the steel industry has become a more efficient user of raw materials...Read More »
Maine Tainted Soil Sent Back From Utah
Rail cars carrying contaminated soil from the former Maine Yankee nuclear power plant in Wiscasset, Maine to a landfill in Utah are returning to Maine following the discovery that previous shipments contained water and, in some cases, were leaking. The low-level radioactive waste is not a significant environmental threat, but the landfill's owner, Envirocare of Utah (www.envirocareutah.com), cannot bury soil that is too wet. Maine Yankee is in the midst of a $500 million cleanup job that is scheduled to be completed by the end of May...Read More »
WasteTrade Kicks Off In Alabama
The nonprofit Sheffield, Ala.-based Waste Reduction and Technology Transfer Foundation has developed the North Alabama Waste and Materials Exchange, or "WasteTrade." The exchange is designed to encourage Alabama businesses, industries, and institutions to list their unwanted information at www.wastetrade.org. Similar sites are already underway, including CalMax in California (www.ciwmb.ca.gov/calmax), the Tennessee Materials Exchange, and the North Carolina Wastetrader (www.ncwastetrader.org)...Read More »
Safety-Kleen Wins ISO 14001 Certification
Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc.'s comprehensive Environmental Management System has been certified as complying with ISO 14001, the international standards program that measures and certifies that a company's processes and programs meet the highest environmental compliance standards in the world. Safety-Kleen began developing its EMS in early 2003, and has spent more than 50,000 man-hours in linking the company's facilities, training programs, and operating procedures...Read More »
Oahu's Landfill Has Caught Fire
Oahu, Hawaii's Waimanalo Gulch Landfill in Nanakuli is burning from a fire deep underground, though health officials are not certain how large it is or whether it's done any damage. One possibility of fighting the fire could be to pour liquid carbon dioxide into the methane vents to potentially choke off the fire's supply of oxygen. The state has ordered operator Waste Management to build an earthen berm at the base of the landfill, since the company allegedly overfilled parts of the landfill and made it unstable...Read More »
SCS Engineers has announced the appointment of Mark D. Varljen, RG, as a corporate vice-president. Varljen is a senior-level hydrogeologist, and also serves as SCS Engineers' National Partner for Groundwater Services...Read More »
Sign up to receive our free Weekly News Bulletin