A publication of Work On Waste USA, Inc., 82 Judson, Canton, NY 13617 315-379-9200 September 26, 1991

NORTH CAROLINA: Part 3.

THERMALKEM, spearheads efforts to site a commercial hazardous waste incinerator in NC ThermalKEM is 100% owned by NuKEM Technologies, Inc.
NuKEM Technologies is 100% owned by American NuKEM Corp.
American NuKEM is 100% owned by the German firm NuKEM GmbH
Up until June 1990, NuKEM GmbH was 35% owned by Degussa AG In Nazi-controlled Germany Degussa AG owned 42.5% of this industry

From Table 9-5, page 887, of Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews, revised and definitive edition,

3 vols. (New York: Holmes & Meier, 1985), Copyright © 1985 by Raul Hilberg. Reproduced by permission of the publisher.

“The U.S. has no regulations regarding dealing with companies that did business with the Third Reich.” Aaron Breitbart, senior researcher at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Los Angeles,CA, in an interview with Waste Not.

On April 30, 1990, the North Carolina Hazardous Waste Management Commission selected ThermalKEM to build and operate a commercial hazardous waste incinerator in NC. At the time this selection was made, Degussa AG owned a 35% share of ThermalKEM’s German parent company NuKEM.2 On 3-28-90, just one month prior to North Carolina’s selection of ThermalKEM, Degussa AG was fined $800,000 by the U.S. Department of Commerce for the “illegal re-exports of two U.S.-origin dual-use metals between 1984 and 1987.”3 The “dual-use metals” Degussa sent to North Korea and India were beryllium and zirconium which can be used for nuclear weapons purposes. In February 1989 German authorities prevented Degussa AG from sending 255 tons of hexamethylene-tetramine to Libya, which can be used for “the production of lethal poison gas...[According to Degussa spokesmen they] have been providing Libya with chemicals for the production of fertilizers ever since 1983. However, they could not deny that hexamethylene-tetramine also can be used for the production of lethal poison gas.”4 According to a 1990 report commissioned by the Simon Wiesenthal Center5 NuKEM GmbH and Degussa AG were cited for helping the governments of Iraq and Libya develop weapons of mass destruction. Degussa AG was cited for its help in military research and sending unspecified equipment for chemical warfare plants. On 11-26-84 the executive commission of the European Economic Community fined Degussa AG, along with four other chemical companies, $6.7 million, “the largest anticompetitive penalty in Common Market history”6 for conspiring to fix prices and supplies of three products (hydrogen peroxide7, sodium perborate and persulphates) for 19 years. On 12-31-90 NC was expelled from a 5-state (with AL, KY, SC, TN) regional agreement because of its failure to have a permit application in place for the siting of a haz. waste incinerator.--See Waste Not #164. Though NC was ‘technically’ expelled from this agreement, ThermalKEM has taken over the state’s effort and has been actively pursuing Pender and Northampton counties to ‘host’ the incinerator by offering up to $3.5 million a year in shared revenue with the ‘host’ community. Residents of both counties have been in active opposition. On 9-23-91 seventeen (17) people were arrested at a public hearing chaired by ThermalKEM officials in Northampton County.

American NuKEM Corp.: 100% owned subsidiaries

NuKEM Technologies Inc. (radioactive waste management/construction). President: Robert Zoch.

AnalytiKEM Inc. (analytical laboratory services/consulting), Cherry Hill, NJ. President: Peter Hottois. Formerly SR Analytical Inc.

CyanoKEM, (chemical treatment of cyanides & other inorganic hazardous wastes), Detroit, MI. President: Robert Anderson. General Manager & VP: David Martyn. Formerly Nelson Industrial Services.

ThermalKEM Inc., (hazardous waste incineration), Rock Hill, SC. Mark Taylor, General Manager. Formerly Stablex SC.

WasteChem Corp. (radioactive waste management), Houston, TX. President: Richard Oates.

ENSR Consulting and Engineering, Acton, MA. President: Paul Sherr. General Manager: Elaine Moore.

ENSR Health Sciences, Alameda, CA. President: Paul Sherr. General Manager: Dr. Martha Kohler.

ENSR Operations, (PCB transformer reclassification group), Canton, OH (President & General Manager: Larry Small) & Burlington, Ontario, Canada (President & General Manager: John McFarland.)

ENSR Remediation and Construction, Houston, TX. President & General Manager: Richard Oates.

Note: Stephen R. Beck, Pres. of American NuKEM was appointed as of 5-17-90 as Pres. and CEO of ENSR, which specializes in environmental consulting and haz. waste remediation services, with offices in 14 states and England. ENSR founder, Robert M. Zoch Jr., assumed the position of Pres. & chief operating officer of NuKEM development division. At the time of NuKEM’s takeover, annual revenues were: American NuKEM, $50 million; ENSR, $158 million. The Herald, Rock Hill, SC, 5-29-90._

1Wall Street Journal, 6-22-90,“RWE AG”, pg. A-5. 2Degussa AG held a 35% share in NuKEM GmbH from 1983 to 1990, according to Moody’s International Manual, published by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., NY. (The library we used only had issues for Moody’s from 1983 on.) 3Nuclear Fuel, Vol. 15, No. 7, 4-2-90, “U.S. fines Germany’s Degussa $800,000 for illegal exports to India, North Korea,” front page report continued on pg. 15. 4B’nai B’rith Messenger, 2-10-89, PO Box 57991, LA, CA 90057. 5The Poison Gas Connection, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Communications Dept., 9760 W. Pico Blvd, LA, CA 90035.-for a copy of this a report a donation would be appreciated. 6New York Times, 11-27-84, page D-27, “E.E.C. Fines 5 Companies.” 7New York Times, 8-3-85, pg. 33-- Degussa AG’s 100% owned American subsidiary Degussa Corp. planned to “invest more than $80 million to add a hydrogen peroxide plant to its manufacturing complex in Mobile, Ala.” 8According to the Wall Street Journal, 6-22-90, pg. A-5, RWE’s 90% interest in NuKEM GmbH completed “the reorganization of the West German nuclear fuel processing company [NuKEM], which ran into trouble in 1987, following charges of bribery of government officials and breaking rules in shipping and storing nuclear materials in early 1988.”