Weyerhaeuser Releases Latest Environmental Citizenship Report
Weyerhaeuser Co. has released its latest citizenship and environment report, titled "Roadmap for Sustainability," detailing the company's practices in regard to corporate ethics, environmental performance, pollution reduction, and resource conservation. On a per-ton basis, Weyerhaeuser mills have cut waste going into landfills by 45 percent and cut energy consumption by 27 percent since 1999. The forest products company now uses virtually every portion of the logs brought into its mills and recycles 98 percent of the chemicals required for pulp and paper processing. The company also collected 6.7 million tons of recycled paper in 2004, representing 13 percent of all paper recovered in the United States...Read More »
Georgia-Pacific Questions IRS's Taxation of Solid Waste Bonds
Georgia-Pacific Corp. intends to compensate holders of solid waste disposal facility bonds for any federal tax liabilities if the company is unable to reverse an Internal Revenue Service ruling that the bonds are subject to tax. The bonds were sold as tax-exempt debt to finance six waste paper facilities, and totaled nearly $230 million. The IRS said the solid waste disposal investigations involve facilities where a manufacturer purchases waste or recyclable material; since the IRS defines waste for tax exemption purposes as material having no value, a resold material would imply value and therefore be taxable...Read More »
Casella Beats Earnings Forecasts With 4Q Results
Casella Waste Systems has reported a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss. Excluding a one-time charge for financing costs, Casella reported a loss of 1 cent per share for the fiscal fourth quarter ended April 30. Analysts had predicted a loss of 3 cents per share. Revenue also beat average forecasts of $112 million, coming in at $115 million. Casella reported a net loss of $364,000, or 5 cents per share, up from a loss of $5.3 million, or 25 cents a share, in the same quarter last year...Read More »
Pennsylvania Senate Approves Landfill Expansion Restrictions
By a margin of 49-1, the Pennsylvania Senate has approved a measure requiring a landfill owner to certify that a landfill has no outstanding violations before applying for state approval to expand. The state could also levy fines of up to $50,000 per violation for landfills that repeatedly violate the same regulation...Read More »
New Jersey Blocks Luxury Home Development near Superfund Site
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has suspended work on the construction of 15 luxury homes on a 45-acre site near the former Combe Landfill Superfund site in Chester Township. The state has asked the company to halt any additional construction activities until the DEP finishes its investigation of the deep aquifer beneath the site. In studies last year by the DEP and the developer's expert, Environmental Liability Management, volatile organic contaminants were found in 14 of 15 wells at a variety of depths, according to the DEP...Read More »
Hurricanes Still Impact Florida's Landfills
Nearly a year after Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne damaged thousands of buildings and trees in St. Lucie County, Fla., (www.stlucieco.gov) the county's landfill continues to wrestle with the waste. The increased waste flow has overwhelmed the county's baling system and recycling program, and taken an estimated five years off the life of the landfill. The county had hoped to open a new cell in 2007, but was forced to open it this past October. Before the storms, an average of 271 trucks per day entered the landfill; following the storms, peaks hit 999 trucks in a single day...Read More »
New Mexico Could Incorporate Environmental Justice in Landfill Rules
The state of New Mexico is reassessing its landfill regulations, and for the first time the state is considering environmental justice measures. The new rules would require landfill operators to prepare a community impact report, in both English and Spanish, whenever they seek to build a new landfill or expand an existing facility. In addition, the proposed rules would waive most permit requirements for recycling and composting centers, since the state is seeking to promote the development of those...Read More »
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