A publication of Work On Waste USA, Inc., 82 Judson, Canton, NY 13617 315-379-9200 April 26, 1990


PENNSYLVANIA: CITIZEN FORCIBLY REMOVED FROM PUBLIC MEETING IN
FALLS TOWNSHIP, BUCKS COUNTY.
The Proposal for Falls Township, Bucks County
Wheelabrator 2,250 tpd mass-burn incinerator
Waste Management Inc. 15,500 tpd ash monofill to be located on banks of Delaware River
(even though incinerator will contribute only 600 tpd of ash)
Consultants: Konheim, Ketcham & Killam

On April 12 the Falls Township Board of Supervisors held a special meeting to vote on the preliminary permits for a 2,250 tpd Wheelabrator incinerator. Minutes before the meeting was called to order Aaron Stutland, vice-chairman of the B-Pure citizens group, asked a police officer if he could speak to the chairwoman Holly Moyer. The police officer granted his permission and Aaron approached Mrs. Moyer to ask if more chairs might be brought in or if people could be seated on the floor who could not fit into the room. Mr. Moyer signaled the police officers to remove Aaron. Two policemen took him by the arms and removed him to a holding cell. He was held there for the duration of the public meeting, without charges. He was not permitted to use the telephone. He was prevented from participating in any way in the meeting. According to B-Pure (Bucks People United to Restore the Environment): “This action by the Police Department of Falls Township with the concurrence of the Chairperson of the Board is the culmination of a steady erosion of our constitutional rights in Falls during the discussions on the Wheelabrator incinerator. Recent meetings have seen severe restrictions on public comment and tactics such as reducing the number of seats available to the public. We cannot allow police-state methods to develop for the purpose of preventing people from using their right of free speech and participation in the government of a free society.” For more information contact Bucks People United to Restore the Environment, 215-946-3699.

WASTE MANAGEMENT INC. NOW HAS 55 PERCENT INTEREST IN WHEELABRATOR.
“Waste Management Inc. said it will gain majority control of Wheelabrator Technologies Inc., in a $500 million transaction that analysts called complementary to both companies. The acquisition of the majority stake will provide Oak Brook,. Ill.-based Waste Management - that nation's largest collector of municipal garbage - with enhanced technology and waste-processing capabilities. Wheelabrator is a Hampton, N.H.-based developer and operator of waste-to-energy facilities. Under an agreement announced Monday, Waste Management will increase its Wheelabrator holdings to 55% from the current 22% through an exchange of stock. The pack also allows Waste Management to name a majority of Wheelabrator directors. Terms of the pact call for Wheelabrator shareholders - other than Waste Management- to exchange each of their shares for 0.469 Waste Management share and 0.574 Wheelabrator share. Waste Management would issue about 15.2 million common shares, giving the transaction a value of about $521.7 million at Monday's closing price. The proposed transaction is 'one of those rare transactions that's clearly a good deal for both parties,' said Shearson Lehman Hutton analyst Barry Mannis. Wheelabrator, he said, is giving up equity in exchange for access to Waste Management's growing recycling technology, medical-waste service and international ventures. Waste Management, which last year had revenue of $4.46 billion, said its European waste-service operation has annual revenue of about $400 million.” Wall Street Journal, 4-4-90, page C-17.

ABB ASEA BROWN BOVERI LTD. BUYS COMBUSTION ENGINEERING.
“...Combustion executives were dazzled by the speed with which ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd., the world's largest electrical engineering company, agreed to buy their company last November for nearly $l.6 billion. The deal was struck in six weeks, a sharp contrast to Combustion's six months of fruitless efforts to negotiate a cooperative venture with Alsthom S.A. of France earlier in the year...The Combustion deal was the biggest in more than 50 acquisitions since 1988 that have transformed ABB into an enterprise with more than $25 billion in sales and 220,000 employees in 140 countries. With the Combustion takeover and last year's acquisition of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation's power transmission business, over $7 billion of ABB's revenues and 40,000 employees are now based in the United States....In the advance guard of the integration are scores of task forces assembled in January from equal numbers of Combustion and ABB executives. The power equipment companies, for instance, set up 12 groups dealing with topics such as the nuclear power business, boilers, power plant automation, worldwide manufacturing strategy and coordination of research and development...” New York Times, 5-6-90, page F-5.

ABB ASEA BROWN BOVERI LTD. BUYS BLOUNT'S INCINERATOR TECHNOLOGY.
1-4-90: “Blount Inc. has found a buyer for W+E Umwelttechnik AG, its Swiss subsidiary and owner of the mass-burn technology that the Montgomery, Ala., construction company uses in its waste-to-energy plants. ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd., the growing energy conglomerate based in Zurich, agreed to acquire the firm last month for an undisclosed amount...W+E, which developed the horizontal grate that it uses in mass-burn furnaces, handles all of Blount's waste-to-energy sales and development outside North America, and has about 45 projects in Europe and Japan. Blount will continue to hold the U.S. license for W+E's technologies, which include processes for municipal and industrial solid and liquid waste incineration as well as resource recovery technology...An ABB executive says that the addition of W+E's well-established incineration technologies and engineering capabilities will allow the firm to offer complete turnkey solutions to its waste handling customers...A Blount official said that while the sale of W+E can be seen as a step away from resource recovery, Blount is negotiating a long-term licensing arrangement with ABB for the Western Hemisphere, including South America..ABB is in the power generation industry, including transmission and distribution and transportation. It also supplies environmental technologies, such as flue gas cleaning to the waste handling market. [ABB Executive V.P. Edwin Somm] said the W+E acquisition includes a new ash handling process that reduces residual ashes and transforms them into an environmentally safe product...” untitled Dow Jones document, 1990.

“GOOD PLANETS ARE HARD TO FIND!” An environmental information guide, dictionary, and action book for kids (and adults) prefaced with remarks from Dr. David Suzuki. This a wonderful, easy to read, A-Z learning tool on what we should all know in order to take good care of our environment. The A-Z definitions include the most important concepts we all have to understand such as acid rain, biodegradable, CFC's, clear-cut, compost, diversity, food chain, Gaia, hazardous waste, landfill, nuclear waste, ozone, PCBs, to recycling 80%. Included in the definition for hazardous waste: “...Either scientists must learn how to break down hazardous waste into non-poisonous substances, or we must stop using the products that make hazardous waste...” Under landfills: “...In some areas, garbage is burned in large incinerators. Burning garbage creates air pollution and, after it is burned, more than 20% of it is left as ash that must still be disposed of in a landfill. This ash is a hazardous waste...” Written especially for our youth the illustrations and definitions are superb. Available from: Namchi United Enterprises, PO Box 33852, Station D, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6J 4L6. Telephone 604-736-6931. Single copies are $7 (US) post paid. Postage-paid bulk rates ($US) are: 10 copies @ $5.50 each; 25 copies @ $5 each; 50 copies @ $4.50 each; 100 copies @ $4 each; 200 copies @ $3.50 each; 300 copies @ $3.25; 500 copies @ $3 each; and 1000 copies @ $2.75 each.


GENERAL ELECTRIC: The new owner of the Blount-built Minneapolis incinerator held its annual stockholders meeting in Erie, Pa, on April 25, 1990. At the meeting stockholders rejected the following:

l. A proposal for an annual list of G.E officers who served the government within the past five years.
2. A proposal aimed at stopping GE from marketing nuclear power technology.
3. A proposal that called for modification of products that release chlorofluorcarbons
4. A proposal that would have required GE to outline to stockholders its environmental policies.


WASTE NOT # 100 A publication of Work on Waste USA, published 48 times a year, annual rates are: Individual & Non-Profits $35; Students & Seniors $25; Consultants & For-Profits $100; Canadian Subscriptions $US40. Editors: Ellen & Paul Connett, 82 Judson Street, Canton, NY 13617. Tel: 315-379-9200. Fax: 315-379-0448.