Date: April 6, 2012
Source: News Room
The plot thickens for the city of Harrisburg, Penn. as it flirts with bankruptcy and fights several lawsuits over $317 million in debt related to its troubled incinerator. Last week David Unkovic, the state-appointed receiver charged with discharging the mess, resigned abruptly after submitting a hand-written letter in which he claimed that "political and ethical crosswinds" left him unable to continue.
At issue is his plan to sell the 40-year-old incinerator and certain city-owned parking structures to pay off the debt held by the Harrisburg Authority for which the city is responsible. Meanwhile, Dauphin County and bond insurer Ambac Assurance Corp. have made payments when the city failed to do so. The county and insurer are suing the city to recoup their payments, restructuring costs, and principal and interest owed to the county and insurer have expanded the burden. Unkovic's efforts were frustrated by efforts by several creditors to have a second receiver appointed to oversee the sale of the incinerator.
Unkovic and the Harrisburg Authority fought the appointment out of fear that it will hamper efforts to sell the assets. Unkovic's resignation followed just days after he asked U.S. and state attorney generals to investigate an audit that found high-ranking public officials failed to vet repair costs for the incinerator. Last month he made known that four suitors had made offers on the incinerator including the neighboring Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority, Cambridge Project Development Inc. (Miami, FL) together with Energy Investors Funds (Needham, MA), Interstate Waste Services (Jersey City, NJ), and Wheelabrator Technologies Inc. (Hampton, NH).
Now, three of Harrisburg's biggest creditors want a Dauphin County judge to name the former head of a large Maryland waste disposal agency as the receiver to run the city's incinerator. The request comes even as the Harrisburg Authority continues to appeal his ruling that a separate receiver for the incinerator is warranted. The creditors want Hoover to appoint Robin B. Davidov to the post. She recently retired as executive director of the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority, which serves Baltimore and seven Maryland counties. She had a 30-year career with the Maryland authority and is now an independent consultant.
See also: "At Least Four Suitors Vying for Harrisburg's Troubled Incinerator," (www.wasteinfo.com/news/wbj20120322A.htm), March 22, 2012.
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