Allied Waste

Volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds were also found in air samples over the site.

The settlement agreement, lodged in federal court in Boston on December

22, resolves federal and state liability claims against 49 potentially

responsible parties for the cleanup of the site, according to the

Justice Department, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the

Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

Under the settlement, 20 of the parties will be responsible for

implementation of the remedy selected by EPA in 2007. These parties will

also pay for the state's past response costs, oversight costs incurred

by EPA and MassDEP, as well as $1.65 million to the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service and the state for natural resource damages claims

stemming from injuries to groundwater and wetlands.

The remaining settling parties are required to make payments to two

trusts to be used to perform the cleanup at the site and to pay for

response costs.

The selected remedy includes excavation and consolidation of

contaminated soils and sediments, construction of a multi-layered

impermeable cap, capture and treatment of contaminated groundwater,

institutional controls and long term monitoring.

The total estimated cost for the selected remedy is estimated to be $29.9 million.

The 20 defendants responsible for performing the cleanup include:

Ausimont Industries Inc.; BASF Corporation; Boston and Maine

Corporation; Browning-Ferris Industries Inc.; Allied Waste Systems Inc.;

BFI Waste Systems of North America LLC; BTU International Inc.; E.I.

DuPont De Nemours and Co.; Honeywell International Inc.; Mallinckrodt

LLC; M/A-COM Inc.; Raytheon Company; Sears, Roebuck and Co.; Textron

Systems Corp.; Town of Tewksbury, Verizon New England Inc.; Waste

Management of Massachusetts Inc.; Waste Management Disposal Services of

Massachusetts Inc.; Waste Management of New Hampshire Inc. and Zeneca,

Inc.

The consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the District

of Massachusetts, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and

approval by the federal court.

1. Allied Will Repay Back Wages to Massachusetts Workers

Allied Waste Industries Inc. (NYSE:AW) has agreed to pay $464,000 in back wages to about 300 workers who were underpaid while working for the trash hauler on municipal contracts in Massachusetts. About 80 percent of the restitution will be given to temporary workers who were paid between $6 and $10 per hour, well below the prevailing wage of $12 to $19 per hour for trash hauling work. The case is part of an effort by Massachusetts officials to address the wrongful use of temporary labor on taxpayer-funded contracts, Reilly's office said. After an investigation, with which Allied Waste cooperated, the state attorney general's office found the company underpaid employees who worked on publicly funded trash hauling services between June 27, 1997, and December 31, 2000...Read More---

Allied Waste Industries was a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. A vertically integrated company that owned and operated solid waste collection businesses, recycling facilities, and landfills, it was a leader in the solid waste industry in the United States. It served more than 10 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across 128 major markets in 37 states and Puerto Rico.

After purchasing Houston\-based giant waste hauler Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) in 1999, together with private equity firms The Blackstone Group and Apollo Management.^[1], Allied Waste Industries, Inc. became the second largest non-hazardous solid waste management company in the United States (behind industry leader Waste Management, Inc.),^[2] with annual revenues of over $5 billion and assets of nearly $14 billion.

On June 23, 2008, Allied was purchased by its smaller competitor Republic Services, Inc for US$6.1 billion. The merged company, retaining the Republic name, has become the second largest non-hazardous solid waste management company in the United States.^[3]

Environmental record

The company had a plan to reduce its local carbon footprint by more than 3.3 million pounds each year in San Mateo County, California, by converting its monthly 80,000 gallons of petroleum diesel to B20 bio-diesel fuel. Allied Waste converted the local 225-truck fleet to the clean-burning B20.^[4] Allied Waste was a member of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEEDS) Program which is outlined by the U.S. Green Building Council. John J. Zillmer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Allied Waste, said, "Allied Waste has long been an active steward of our environment...we aim to employ environmentally responsible and sustainable practices." ^[5] Allied Waste also implemented new innovations such as gas-to-energy projects. Gas-to-energy converts waste gas from landfills into electricity which offsets conventional use of oil and natural gas.^[6]

References

2. A trash hauler is buying a much bigger rival, a type of deal that makes Wall Street a bit nervous New York Times, March 9, 1999
3. Allied partners with Bridgestone Firestone, Bandag March 4, 2008 retrieved 14 May 2008
4. Stewart Bailey. Republic Agrees to Buy Allied Waste for $6.1 Billion. Bloomberg.com. June 23, 2008. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aSFcQM.YihGc&refer=home
5. Allied Waste Converts San Mateo Fleet To Biodiesel September 18, 2007, retrieved 14 May 2008/
6. msnmoney.com March 7, 2008 retrieved 14 May 2008
7. Creating Cleaner and Greener Communities 2008 retrieved 14 May 2008

External links

• http://investor.alliedwaste.com/
• http://www.disposal.com/