Oct. 15, 2001 Issue 7288

Rebekah A. Hall

IN THIS ISSUE:

News:

- Pennsylvania Waste Haulers Fined More Than $2 Million

- EPA Welcomes Horinko as Solid Waste Administrator

- EPA Set Guidelines for Handling Treated Wood

- Casella Sells Unit To Pay Debt

- Tougher Rules Considered for Trucking Industry

- Waste Management Signs Equipment Deal with John Deere

- Amount of Debris Hauled Jumps to More Than 250,000 Tons

Newsbriefs: Agreements, New Divisions, etc.

Events

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NEWS:

Pennsylvania Waste Haulers Fined More Than $2 Million Harrisburg, Pa. -- Waste hauling companies and truck drivers were fined more than $2 million for environmental violations during Operation Clean Sweep, a statewide surprise inspection of waste haulers from May 21-29, 2001.

During Operation Clean Sweep, inspectors from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), State Police and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (DOT) conducted surprise inspections of more than 40,000 garbage trucks at every landfill in the state.

DEP inspectors checked trucks for environmental regulations, including leaking loads and improper tarps. State police and DOT officials conducted safety inspections, looking for violations such as bad brakes and bald tires. All agencies checked for overweight trucks. Additionally, the DOT and state police ensured that all drivers were licensed and had proper documentation.

The DEP fined 26 haulers a total of $1.8 million. District managers levied $395,425 in criminal fines against more than 1,200 drivers. Haulers were cited for 11,082 safety and environmental violations, with 12 trucking firms accounting for 2,073 of the violations. Houston-based Waste Management Inc. was charged $815,000, the largest penalty. Houston-based BFI was fined $152,000.

EPA Welcomes Horinko as Solid Waste Administrator

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently nominated and confirmed Marianne Lamont Horinko as assistant administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER). She is responsible for overseeing the Superfund program and other initiatives dealing with waste management and recycling. Horinko previously was an EPA official and was president of Clay Associates Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based environmental consulting firm.

EPA Set Guidelines for Handling Treated Wood

Fairfax, Va. -- The preserved wood industry recently completed a set of guidelines with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the handling of treated lumber such as chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood. The guidelines advise consumers to never burn treated wood and to wear a dust mask, gloves and goggles when sawing, sanding or machining wood.

Additionally, Ridgewood, N.J.-based DWJ Television has produced a TV news package that includes a listing of safety tips for consumers, and interviews with Home Depot and American Wood Preserver Institute representatives. To order a copy of the tape, contact Loren Checchi, DWJ Television. Phone toll-free: (800) 766-1711, extension 215. mailto:[email protected].

Casella Sells Unit To Pay Debt

Rutland, Vt. -- Casella Waste Systems Inc. has sold its Multitrade energy operations, generating net proceeds of about $5.7 million to pay the company's debt.

Tougher Rules Considered for Trucking Industry

Washington, D.C. -- Responding to several Senators' pleas to consider strengthening rules for the trucking industry, both Congress and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) said that they will consider revising current rules.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, requested that background checks for truckers be required from now on, while Joan Clayton, former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), said that current procedures make it too easy to get a license to transport materials such as hazardous waste.

Rules under consideration include adding fingerprinted images to commercial drivers' licenses (CDLs) to make them more difficult to reproduce, according to the FMCSA.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) also has proposed legislation to give agency officials more authority to inspect materials being transported, and increase the penalty for violating hazardous materials regulations from $27,500 to $100,000.

Additionally, American Trucking Association (ATA) chairman Duane Acklie recently testified before the Senate Transportation and Merchant Marine Subcommittee, recommending that Congress pass legislation giving motor carriers the power to search law enforcement databases to conduct more efficient background checks.

Waste Management Signs Equipment Deal with John Deere Moline, Ill. -- Houston-based Waste Management Inc. has signed a three-year agreement with John Deere Construction and Forestry Co.

As part of the agreement, John Deere will supply four-wheel-drive loaders and other equipment, such as the 304H and 644H waste handlers, to Waste Management for its transfer stations, recycling centers and landfill operations. John Deere also will develop a website for Waste Management to provide training, parts and service information, and ordering information.

The agreement stems from a two-year partnership between the companies to design equipment specifically for the waste industry.

Amount of Debris Hauled Jumps to More Than 250,000 Tons

New York -- As of Wednesday evening, a reported 258,710 tons, or nearly 16,000 truckloads, of debris had been hauled away from the World Trade Center site to the Fresh Kills Landfill, Staten Island, N.Y.

NEWSBRIEFS: Agreemens, New Divisions, etc.

Agreements

- The Industrial Business Area of Mettler Toledo Inc., Columbus, Ohio, and Measurement Systems International (MSI), Seattle, have formed an agreement allowing Mettler-Toledo to distribute MSI’s products through their sales, service and distributor channels.

- Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill., and Claas KgaA, Harsewinkel, Germany, have signed an engine supply agreement for Caterpillar to supply Claas with Tier 2/Stage II-compliant diesel engines for Lexion combines.

New Divisions

- Mack Trucks Inc., Allentown, Pa., has announced the creation of Mack Commercial Finance, a new captive finance company that will offer custom financial services to Mack distributors and customers throughout the United States and Canada. Mack Commercial Finance is a division of VFS US LLC.

- The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) Inc., Washington, D.C., has created a new division, the Tire and Rubber Division, as a result of a merger between ISRI and the National Association of Scrap Tire Processors, and has created a Scrap Tire Processors Chapter.

Research

- Moore and Associates, Atlanta, has completed an update on its $mart$upply database of 132 U.S. local government curbside recycling programs, specifically to calculate the amount of programs that are under-performing and that will be good sources of both old newspapers (ONP) and residential mixed paper (RMP) for the paper industry. The average ONP recovery rate was 171 pounds per household per year, and the average RMP recovery rate was 247 pounds per household per year. The average curbside recycling program produces between 250 pounds and 280 pounds per household per year.

EVENTS

November 28-29, 2001

Business Energy Solutions Expo Orlando, Fla. Contact: The Association of Energy Engineers (AEE). Fax: (770) 381-9865. Website: http://www.aeecenter.org/bese.

November 30, 2001

Take It Back! Global Packaging Mandates: How to Design for Environment and Save Money

Las Vegas. Contact: Michele Raymond, Raymond Communications. Phone: (301) 345-4237. Fax: (301) 345-4768. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.raymond.com/conference/index.html.

December 3-6, 2001 14th International Conference on Site Remediation and Environmental Management Orlando, Fla. Contact: Paul Reneau, Gas Technology Institute (GTI), 1700 South Mount Prospect Road, Des Plaines, Ill. 60018-1804. Phone: (847) 768-0780. Fax: (847) 768-0501. mailto:[email protected].

December 4-7, 2001

17th Annual Pollutec International Exhibition of Environment Equipment, Technologies and Service for Industry vParis-Nord Villepinte, France. Contact: Emmanuelle Cade, International Trade Exhibitions in France Inc., 1611 North Kent Street, Suite 903, Arlington, Va. 22209. Phone toll-free: (888) 522-5001. Fax: (703) 522-5005. mailto:[email protected]. Website: http://www.pollutec.com.