BUSINESS/ORGANIZATIONAL BRIEFS

Michigan tire company to pay $5.6 million

On November 22, the Allegan County Circuit Court ordered Alternative Fuels L.C. to pay $5.6 million cleanup costs and $89,100 in civil fines to address an illegal scrap tire pile estimated to contain five million scrap tires.

The court, in a ruling against Terry Ross, Alternative Fuels L.C., and Michigan Scrap Tire Processors LC, found that the site poses a serious hazard and public nuisance, and that Alternative Fuels L.C. had not taken any steps towards correct these problems since it obtained ownership of the property. The court also gave the state access to the site for the removal of the tires.

The court-ordered access to the site will allow the DEQ to fund removal of the scrap tires through the DEQ Scrap Tire Grant Program, through which a local unit of government can apply for funding to clean up sites under its jurisdiction. Allegan County has submitted an application for a $1 million grant to remove a portion of the tires in 2005.

“This judgment sends a strong message to those who choose to shirk their responsibilities to their community,” said DEQ Director Steven E. Chester.

New York City schools recycle computers with Dell

Round Rock, TX— The New York City Department of Education (DoE) is working with Dell to recycle more than 50,000 outdated pieces of computer equipment. In the largest single recycling project since Dell first launched the service in July 2003, the company is removing computer equipment from nearly 900 schools and administrative locations for recycling or reuse. Dell will refurbish 1,000 of these systems so New York City schools can use them in its Dell TechKnow program.

Through its Asset Recovery Services (ARS), Dell is packing and removing the outdated systems and auditing them to either be refurbished or recycled, helping to safeguard the environment, and meet governmental guidelines.

Steelmaker to pay $1.2 million in fines

AK Steel Co. has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle a complaint by the federal government that the company´s mill in Butler, Pennsylvania violated environmental laws.

The company will pay a $300,000 penalty and invest $900,000 in projects to reduce smog-producing ozone in Pennsylvania, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice. In 2000, EPA inspectors documented several environmental violations involving the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and storage and disposal of hazardous waste, according to the EPA.

The environmental projects that AK Steel will perform as part of its settlement include funding a refrigerant recycling program for residents of Butler County, removing and destroying ozone-depleting refrigerants in at least 17 refrigeration units and replacing them with less harmful substances, and retiring 159 tons of nitrogen oxide pollution credits with a current value of $225,000.

According to the EPA, as part of the settlement, the company neither admits nor denies any liability for the alleged violations.

Federal fines imposed in Pennsylvania

Two Pennsylvania metal foundries have settled alleged federal hazardous waste violations and will pay fines under separate consent agreements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Buck Company Inc. will pay $44,880 for alleged violations at its Quarryville, Pennsylvania foundry. The EPA cited the company for several breaches, including storing hazardous waste without a permit beyond the 90-day allowable limit

Kief Industries Inc. agreed to pay $13,358 to settle claims that it has accumulated 11,000 kilograms of zinc oxide sludge in 55-gallon drums since 1998 at its Excelsior Brass Works foundry in Blandon, Pennsylvania. The EPA cited the company for storing the waste without a permit beyond the allowable 90 days and failing to properly label or date the drums containing the waste.

As part of the settlement, neither company admitted or denied liability for the cited violations.

Waste treatment services resume after fire

Boise, Idaho— Steve Romano, president and chief executive officer of American Ecology Corporation announced that subsidiary US Ecology Texas has resumed limited hazardous and non-hazardous waste treatment services at its Robstown, Texas facility. Treatment services were suspended following a July 1, 2004, fire in the facility’s permitted waste treatment building. Treatment services accounted for approximately 50% of the Texas facility’s revenue prior to the fire.

“We are pleased to resume limited treatment services at US Ecology Texas as planned,” Romano stated. “Our Texas team is proceeding with plans to open a new waste treatment building in the first half of 2005,” Romano added, noting, “The new building will be designed to accommodate our full range of permitted treatment services in addition to more efficient waste throughput.”

Waste Industries swaps company assets

Raleigh, NC— Waste Industries USA, Inc. announced the closing of an asset swap transaction with Waste Connections, Inc.

Under the terms of the agreement, Waste Industries purchased Waste Connection’s hauling, transfer station and MSW landfill operations located in the north and northwestern suburbs of Atlanta. Simultaneously Waste Industries sold to Waste Connections its hauling and C&D landfill operations in the greater Memphis, Tennessee market and its hauling and transfer station operation in Crossville, Tennessee, which includes an early stage MSW landfill development project in a neighboring county. Both parties produce estimated revenues of $12 million per year.

CECO Environmental makes personnel changes

New York, NY— CECO Environmental Corp. announced senior management changes.

Marshall Morris’ resignation as vice president and CFO became effective November 30, 2004. Phillip DeZwirek, chairman and CEO of CECO Environmental and CFO for about 10 years prior to Mr. Morris will assume the responsibilities temporarily.

Mike Meyer, president of the CECO Filters subsidiary of CECO Environmental will be promoted to the role of vice-president of sales for CECO Environmental.

Mary Keenan, a 15-year veteran of CECO Filters and currently vice president sales and customer service will be promoted to president of CECO Filters.

Wastequip opens new Piedmont parts business

Cleveland, OH— Wastequip, Inc. announced the opening of a new aftermarket parts business called Parts Place, Inc. located in Piedmont, South Carolina. The new company will sell replacement parts nationwide for waste handling and recycling equipment.

Parts Place, Inc. carries replacement and aftermarket parts of all major brands of waste handling and recycling equipment including hydraulic cylinders, compactor parts, and mobile replacements. Parts Place specializes in personalized service, competitive pricing, and fast delivery. Most orders received by 3:00 p.m. will ship that same day. Online ordering is also planned to be available soon.

Margaret Spradlin Allen has been appointed general manager along with Duane Spradlin as national accounts manager, Jimmy Davis as operations manager, and John Beckwith, customer service specialist.

The management team has over 75 years of combined experience in the waste industry.

LBX hires regional manager-sales

LBX Company, LLC announced the appointment of Elias S. Chakour to the position of region manager-sales, effective November 29, 2004. He will cover the East Coast territory.

Elias has an extensive 26-year career in the construction equipment industry, having held management positions in field sales, national accounts, general sales management, and - most recently - in distribution as the Moody-Tampa branch manager.

Ruth Mack to run Alcoa packaging and consumer products

New York, NY— Alcoa announced today that its Board of Directors elected Ruth J. Mack as vice president of Alcoa and Group President of Packaging and Consumer Products effective immediately. She succeeds William E. Leahey, Jr., who recently retired.

Ms. Mack had been president of Alcoa Consumer Products, the Alcoa business responsible for well-known brands such as Reynolds Wrap® Aluminum Foil, Reynolds Plastics Wrap, Reynolds Cut-Rite Wax Paper and BacoFoil in the U.K. Her successor has not yet been named.

In her new position, Ms. Mack assumes accountability for all of Alcoa’s packaging businesses - consumer, flexible, food service and protective packaging, as well as Alcoa KAMA, the world’s largest producer of light gauge material for the thermoforming industry, and the company’s closures and graphics businesses. Alcoa’s Packaging and Consumer Products group has approximately $3.2 billion in revenues and will be based in New York City.

Mario Longhi, who runs the company’s Global Extruded and End Products business will now also oversee Alcoa Home Exteriors, the company’s residential building products business.

Separately, the Alcoa Board of Directors elected Helmut W. Wieser, a vice president of Alcoa. He is head of the company’s North American and European Mill Products organizations. In addition, Bernt Reitan, and Paul Thomas, were both elected executive vice presidents of Alcoa. Reitan runs Alcoa’s global Primary Products businesses, and Thomas was recently named to a new post responsible for People, ABS and Culture.

Elfab appoints North American sales manager

Elfab, a European supplier of pressure-safety systems, has appointed Mike Purcell as its national sales manager for North America. He joins from Tekmar Company, a Teledyne Instruments division, where he fulfilled a number of roles, most recently that of product line manager responsible for Total Organic Carbon product development.

Purcell will focus on developing Elfab’s North American Sales Network. His qualifications include a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Xavier University.

NITON announces distribution agreement

Billerica, MA— NITON LLC, a manufacturer of portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) instrumentation for alloy analysis, announced a distribution agreement with RMG Technologies of Liphook, England for NITON distribution of RMG’s MiniSort ARC OES (Optical Emission Spectrometer) alloy analyzer in the U.S.

Steel Dynamics names Gary Heasley CFO

Fort Wayne, IN— Steel Dynamics, Inc. announced the appointment of Gary Heasley to the position of chief financial officer, effective January 1, 2005. For the past three years, Gary has been employed in various capacities with KeyBanc Capital Markets, a division of McDonald Investments Inc., most recently as senior vice president and manager of the Metals Group.

Heasley has a broad background in finance and accounting, with experience in auditing, project finance, operations management, mergers and acquisitions, and investment banking. He has a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Youngstown State University, is a Certified Public Accountant, and worked for four years for Ernst & Young LLP as Senior Accountant in its National Merger and Acquisitions Group.

Feder named president of Alcoa Latin America

New York & Sao Paulo, Brazil— Alcoa announced that Franklin (Frank) L. Feder, has been named president of Alcoa Latin America, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He will oversee Alcoa’s businesses in South America, coordinate growth activities in the region, and work closely with government and communities to optimize Alcoa’s profile in the country. He also is a vice president of Alcoa. Mr. Feder succeeds Josmar Verillo, who plans to dedicate more time to his family farming business and to the AMARRIBO, the NGO dedicated to fight corruption in the Brazilian Public Sector.

Mr. Feder has had a long association with Alcoa Aluminio, Alcoa’s fully integrated aluminum business in Brazil. Mr. Feder joined Alcoa Aluminio in 1990 as director of corporate planning under Alain Belda, who is now chairman and CEO of Alcoa. He then served as chief financial officer for Alcoa Aluminio from 1994 until 1999.

Mr. Feder graduated from the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo in 1972 with a degree in business. He also obtained an MBA degree in 1977 from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Mr. Feder will relocate to Sao Paulo, Brazil in the first quarter of 2005.

OAKLEAF invests in Canadian company

East Hartford, CT— OAKLEAF Waste Management announced it has taken an equity position in WasteLess Environmental Services, the largest full-service waste brokerage and waste reduction company in Canada. The announcement was made by OAKLEAF president and CEO, Jim Barnes.

Founded in 1992, WasteLess Environmental Services conducts waste audits and provides waste management consulting services, in addition to brokering waste hauling services and leasing equipment to 300 commercial customers located across Canada. WasteLess has offices in four cities including Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver.

Paul Thiessen, WasteLess’s president and co-founder, will remain as its president and has joined OAKLEAF’s advisory board. “This investment makes perfect sense, since we have a similar market model,” noted Thiessen. Ronald Thiessen, co-founder, will also continue in the same capacity at WasteLess.

Caterpillar acquires Chinese company

Beijing— Caterpillar Inc. ann-ounced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Shandong SEM Machinery Co., Ltd. (SEM), one of China’s key wheel loader manufacturers.

The acquisition is the latest step in a multi-year strategy introduced by Caterpillar in 2003 to significantly expand its presence in China. Under the signed agreement, Caterpillar will purchase a minority interest in SEM, with options to purchase the remaining equity after two years.

In addition to the SEM acquisition, Caterpillar continues to rapidly implement other aspects of its business model in China, including financing, logistics, distribution, procurement, rental and used equipment. Today, Caterpillar operates ten facilities — both joint venture and wholly owned businesses — and employs approximately 2,000 people throughout China. The company distributes its products through five independent Caterpillar dealers, offering customers throughout China the best-in-class service and support that distinguishes Caterpillar’s distribution network worldwide.

WCA Waste Corp. buys hauling company

WCA Waste Corp. is acquiring Trash-Away, Inc., a 16-truck collection company in Piedmont, South Carolina.

Trash-Away´s business includes 10 roll-off routes, two commercial routes and one residential route, Houston-based WCA Waste said.

Construction and demolition waste collected by the company will be internalized into WCA´s Fines landfill in nearby Travelers Rest, South Carolina

The terms of the deal, which also includes a portable toilet operation, were not disclosed by WCA.

Heil announces sales personnel changes

Chattanooga, TN— Heil Environmental announced recent additions and promotions in its refuse group sales team.

Todd Anderson was hired as national account director for Republic Waste Services, Inc.  He brings more than 10 years of experience in sales, operations management and customer service to the national account director position.

Joe Howard was promoted to South Central regional manager. Howard had served as a direct sales representative for Florida since joining Heil in 1998.

Ron Thoensen was hired as a direct sales representative. He is responsible for sales of Heil refuse collection vehicles, Ready Trucks, and replacement parts from Parts Central.

Chad Hardy was appointed as western region sales manager. He is responsible for managing Heil’s distributors and direct sales, service and parts locations in the western region including California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Hawaii and western Canada.

Reichhold establishes new positions

Research Triangle Park, NC— Reichhold, Inc., a supplier of resins and other polymers to coatings formulators, has established a new role at the company, staffed by industry veterans.

A new team of business development representatives has been formed by Reichhold with the directive of fostering new product introductions within the coatings industry. Reichhold has tapped four long-time coatings technology veterans to take on the job, organized by product type:

•Alkyds & Oils - Jeff Danneman & Carol Williams

•Urethanes & Acrylics - Rick Caldwell

•Powders & Specialties - Tim Takas