A publication of Work On Waste USA, Inc., 82 Judson, Canton, NY 13617 315-379-9200 January 17, 1991

TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA: RESIDENTS DEFEAT BASF PROPOSED HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATOR AND LANDFILL.

It took two years for residents to defeat a hazardous waste rotary kiln incinerator proposed by BASF, the second largest chemical company in the world. BASF wanted to burn the wastes produced from 33 of their plants located in 14 states, which would have included wastes from the manufacture of paints, herbicides and chemicals. The proposed site, 1500 acres, was originally part of a federal prison farm which was bought by the county (Vigo) from the Government Services Administration. The site is near the Wabash River, 10 miles from Terre Haute, near a railroad site, two major highways, and a federal prison. The surrounding area is primarily suburbs and less than one mile from the Hoosier Elementary School. The major proponents were the Chamber of Commerce, Alliance for Growth & Progress, the County Commissioners, as well as Mayor Pete Chalos of Terre Haute. BASF used the public relations firm of Fleischman Hillard, from Kansas, MO, to sell the project. (Fleischman Hillard is a sponsor of National Public Radio). The citizens group, Environmental Rights Coalition, challenged in a law suit that the Government Services Administration should have done an Environmental Impact Statement before they sold the land to the county. The County and the federal GSA called the lawsuit frivolous, but the Judge set a preliminary hearing date for September 26, 1990. When the hearing date was set, BASF withdrew their proposal in the first week of Sept. The three County Commissioners have filed a malicious lawsuit asking for punitive damages from the officers of the Environmental Rights Coalition in July 1990. The group put their emphasis on educating the community with lectures and demonstrations, collecting over 6,000 petitions. They raised more than $150,000 over two years time, primarily for legal fees, advertisements and educational materials. BASF promised to provide 300 jobs. The public hearing on the proposal had 33 hours of testimony against the proposal, with approx 500 people attending. The County’s 5-member economic development commissioner offered $5 million to help develop the site. For more information contact Harold Cox, RR 23, Box 223, Terre Haute, INN 47802. Tel: 812-898-2227.

SOUTH CAROLINA: WORLD’S LARGEST PROPOSED SOLID WASTE INCINEATOR, 19,600 TONS PER DAY, PROPOSED AT SITE OF HALF-COMPLETED NUCLEAR POWER STATION.

This 2,200 acre site near Blacksburg in Cherokee County, houses the half-completed Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant. The site was sold by the utility, Duke Power, to film maker Earle Owensby (who produced the move The Abyss which was filmed at this location). Duke Power is estimated to have put appox. $500 million into developing this site from 1977-1983 before abandoning the project. Though Duke Power sold the 2,200 acre property, they did not sell the railroad spur to the property --they had offered the railroad spur to the County in 1983 for nothing, but the County rejected the offer. Now, the railroad spur is the turning point in this issue. The spur is off the Southern Railway line, which runs from New York to New Orleans. The option to buy the site is held by the firm Consolidated Minerals Inc., out of Leesburg, Fl, which is wholly owned by F. Browne Gregg. (According to The Lake Sentinel, FL, report of 1-28-90, F. Browne Gregg is estimated to have made $6 million dollars in a private deal with Ogden Martin. Ogden Martin got the contract (which never went out to bid) to build Lake County’s, FL, 528 tpd incinerator- see also Waste Not #88). The Cherokee County Council voted 6-1 against the proposal on January 8, 1991. The Governor, Carroll Campbell, and State Senator Harvey Peeler have also come out in opposition to the proposal. The proposal is for a refuse derived fuel rotary kiln incinerator, that would import waste from other states, and would recycle 500,000 tons of steel a year, recycle plastics at a proposed on-site manufacturing plant to make PVC pipe, and recycle aluminum. The company has mentioned offering a rebate for in-state waste. Residents first learned about the proposal from a local newspaper report on November 21. The county has no zoning or land use planning. Residents are opposed to the proposal because of garbage importation. The proponents of the project to date are: the editor of the local paper, The Gaffney Ledger, realtors and one county commissioner. Consolidated Minerals Inc. (CSI) have hired the public relations firm of Chernoff, Silver & Assoc. of Columbia, SC. CSI local representatives are C. Bailey Williams and Carrol Lunderstadt. The population of Cherokee County is approximately 45,000. Gaffney, a city approx 8 miles northwest of the site has a population of approx. 17,000. Blacksburg, 4 miles northeast of the site has a population of aprox 2-3,000. North Carolina is approx. 8 miles from the site. For more information contact Jim Mijanovich, Citizens for a Clean County, PO Box 1696, Gaffney, SC 29342. Tel: 803-487-5990.

NOVA SCOTIA:

Proposals to build 2 hazardous waste (PCB) incinerators, a tire incinerator, 2 large solid waste incinerators, and a medical waste incinerator. As much as 90% of the waste to be ‘barged’ from the northeast U.S. All these proposals are being introduced by maverick entrepreneur Dr. Clarence Ekstrand of Surety Environmental Inc. of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in a joint venture with Zurn Industries of Erie, Pennsylvania. IT Technologies are also involved. This has created a whirlwind of opposition by residents who first learned of the proposals in December 1990. Three incinerators are proposed for Liverpool: (1) a 3,000 municipal waste incinerator; (2) a hazardous waste incinerator; (3) and a tire incinerator. In Windsor, there is a proposal for a medical waste incinerator. In Yarmouth there is a proposal for an 1,800 tpd municipal waste incinerator to burn “paper based products from the New England area.” In January the Maritime Fishermmen’s Union stated its opposition to any transportation of hazardous materials over their fishing grounds. (The Martimes include the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island). There is a proposal for a transfer station in Shelbourne. The principal industries in Nova Scotia are fishing and tourism. According to research done by residents in Nova Scotia, Dr. Ekstrand was involved in several business ventures before going bankrupt in 1984. Surety Environmental was formed in 1988 by Dr. Ekstrand, and Surety Medi-Waste Inc. was formed in 1989. They said they were trading on Alberta and Nova Scotia stock exchanges, but they are not registered in either place. Surety Environmental was sold to Accord Capitol Co. in 1989. Accord is trying to sell Surety back to Ekstrand. A consultant to Ekstrand is the former Mayor of Swan Hills in Alberta, Canada, where Zurn was involved in building a hazardous waste incinerator. For more information contact Caroline Brown, Nova Scotians for a Clean Environment, PO Box 134, Arcadia, Nova Scotia BOW 1BO, tel: 902-663-2632, or Stephanie Wilson at 902-354-4329. Some Background on Zurn Industries: 4,300 employees. Subsidiaries: Cosco Fire Protection, Inc., Environmental Energy Co., Firetrol Protection Systems, Inc., HL Capital Corp., Lynx Golf Inc., National Energy Production Corp., NEPCO Constructors Inc., Nuevo Camino Constructors Co., Operational Energy Corp., Permtek Ltd., Permuitt Co. Inc., Sharyn Steam Inc., Zurn Constructors Inc., Zurn Export Inc. Officers (as of 1990): George H. Schofield, Chairman & CEO (salary $535,000); Donald F. Fessler, Exec. VP (salary $268,000); Richard J. Nanula, Exec VP (salary $284,541); William A. Freeman, Sr. VP (salary $301,000); David H. Lund, Sr. VP and Legal Counsel; James A. Zurn, Sr. VP; John E. Rutzler, VP & Controller; Joseph E. Sharbaugh, Treasurer. Directors: Alton S. Cartwright, James A. Zurn, Edward J. Campbell, Juanita Kreps, David W. Wallace, Kenneth S. Axelson, Albert F. Duval, George H. Schofield.

UPDATE ON MOBILE, ARIZONA:

After the 5-7-90 police attack and arrest of citizens at the public hearing on the ENSCO proposal to build 3 hazardous waste incinerators and 7 hazardous waste landfills in Mobile, another public hearing was held on June 20 in Phoenix. Over 4,000 people attended, which led to two days of hearings of unanimous condemnation of incineration and importation of waste. Ensco has continued construction at the site. The five citizens charged with misdemeanor charges were acquitted in September after a 2 day trial held in Gilabend, despite having 10 policemen testify against them. The current Arizona Governor, Rose Mofford (who replaced Evan Mecham after his impeachment) is rumored to be involved in secret negotiations with Ensco to permit one incinerator and high waste import fees. Mofford did not run for Governor in the November election. The election was a virtual tie, and a run-off election between the two gubernatorial candidates --who have both come out against the incinerator proposal-- is to take place Feb. 26. Residents fear the State will issue a permit to Ensco before the Feb. 26th run-off election. For more information contact Don't Waste Arizona Coalition, telephone 602-245-1222.

WASTE NOT # 134 A publication of Work on Waste USA, published 48 times a year. Annual rates are: Groups & Non-Profits $50; Individual $40; Students & Seniors $35; Consultants & For-Profits $125; Canadians $US45; Overseas $65. Editors: Ellen & Paul Connett, 82 Judson Street, Canton, NY 13617. Tel: 315-379-9200. Fax: 315-379-0448.