Toronto to Buy Landfill for $220 Million
The City of Toronto confirmed that it will spend $220 million to purchase the Green Lane Landfill near London, Ont. This gives the city desperately needed disposal capacity when its contract with various landfill sites in Michigan expires in 2010. Toronto Mayor David Miller proclaimed "Today's step is enormous progress in securing, for over the next decade, a place for the city of Toronto to landfill its garbage...and [it] eliminates the risk that we were facing of border closure." About 350 trucks carry garbage from Ontario into Michigan every day. 85 of those trucks are from Toronto. The 321 acre Green Lane Landfill has been in operation since 1978 and is expected to meet the city's needs for at least 15 years...Read More »
Odyssey Investment Partners to Acquire Wastequip
Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC, a New York based private equity fund with $1.2 billion under management, is acquiring Wastequip, Inc., a well known and respected manufacturer of waste handling, recycling and material handling equipment. Neither the buyer nor the seller, DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, disclosed financial terms of the sale that is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007. Wastequip is based in Cleveland, OH and operates 35 manufacturing facilities throughout the US and employs 1,800 people to produce more than 200 different products that are used in nearly every aspect of the waste management chain. Odyssey has no plans to change Wastequip's senior management...Read More »
Sen. Boxer Criticizes EPA Intention to Relax Rules on Air Toxics
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the incoming chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, criticized the EPA's proposal to allow certain sources to increase harmful emissions of air toxins as "detrimental to the environment and undermin[ing] the intent" of the Clean Air Act. She added, "We will closely examine this issue when the new Congress convenes."...Read More »
Waste Associations Call for the Recycling of all E-Waste
This week, several waste management and recycling associations joined to call for the reuse or recycling of all electronic waste or "e-scrap." In a joint statement, the Integrated Waste Services Association (IWSA), the National Recycling Coalition (NRC), the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) and the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) said, "Reuse and recycling are far and away the preferred methods of e-scrap management-and with sufficient infrastructure; nearly all discarded electronic products could be technically and economically recyclable." They went on to say that an integrated framework of federal regulations complemented by more customized state regulations would help achieve this goal...Read More »
Agencies Want Rail Carriers to Compile and Analyze Data on Shipping Hazardous Wastes
Various relevant federal regulatory agencies propose to require all rail carriers to compile annual data on specified shipments of hazardous materials, use the data to analyze safety and security risks along rail transportation routes where those materials are transported, assess alternative routing options, and make routing decisions based on those assessments. The recently published notice of proposed rulemakings comes from The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), in consultation with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)...Read More »
British Lord Assails Senators Rockefeller and Snowe
British Lord Monckton, Viscount of Brenchley, a former policy adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, sent an open letter to Senators Rockefeller (D-WV) and Snowe (R-Maine) in response to their recent open letter calling for the CEO of ExxonMobil to cease funding climate-skeptic scientists. He wrote: "You defy every tenet of democracy when you invite ExxonMobil to deny itself the right to provide information to 'senior elected and appointed government officials' who disagree with your opinion." He goes on to say that "skeptics and those who have the courage to support them are actually helpful in getting the science right. They do not ... 'obfuscate' the issue: they assist in clarifying it by challenging weaknesses in the 'consensus' argument and they compel necessary corrections..."...Read More »
Rumpke Sues Colerain Township for Rejecting Landfill Expansion
Rumpke Consolidated Companies, Inc., based in Cincinnati, OH recently filed suit against the Colerain Township for tuning down its request to expand its landfill there. Rumpke claims the right to use its land to expand the landfill. Opponents say Rumpke knew the zoning restrictions before they bought the land. The company plans to spend $145 million to expand the landfill to the west and extend its life 30 years. Without it, the landfill could run out of room by 2024...Read More »
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