BUSINESS/ORGANIZATIONAL BRIEFS

Veridium Forms Green Technology Research and Development Unit

Paterson, NJ— Veridium Corporation, an environmental services provider that uses its patented and proprietary green technologies to recycle, reuse and mine commodities from industrial hazardous wastes, announced the founding of its Greener Grass Green Technology Research and Development Unit and its inaugural deal — a strategic alliance with UTEK Corporation (UTEK), a technology transfer company that specializes in the acquisition and development of technologies from universities and government research laboratories.

Veridium’s Greener Grass environmental technology initiative is a significant part of Veridium’s growth plans. Hazardous industrial wastes contain valuable elements in concentrations many times greater than virgin ore extracted from the earth. Green technologies are essential to the cost-effective recycling and mining of the many millions of tons of these materials that are currently burned or buried nationally every year. The new alliance with UTEK will allow Veridium to leverage the research and development activities of universities and government research laboratories to meet its technology development goals cost-effectively while maintaining its focus on the revenue and earnings growth of its core business.

Kevin Kreisler, Veridium’s chairman and chief executive officer, said, “With the recent improvement in our profitability, we have demonstrated that our existing proprietary green technologies are a cost-effective and environmentally superior method of managing industrial wastes. Even so, we have only just begun to actualize the powerful benefits of recycling and mining industrial hazardous wastes. We believe that our recycled products will become a significant source of valuable metallic and chemical raw materials as we consolidate market share nationally.”

Initial Removal of Contaminated Soil Completed

Chicago, IL— Last week, under an EPA order, International Paper Co. completed an initial removal of dioxin-contaminated soil from the St. Regis Paper Co. Superfund site in Cass Lake, Minnesota. Over a period of 10 days, 2,386 tons of soil were removed in 94 loads and sent to the Onyx FCR Landfill in Buffalo, Minnesota.

EPA is primarily concerned about dioxin contamination from the wood treatment operation at the former St. Regis Paper site. This initial removal addressed soil with dioxin levels of one part per billion or greater in parts of the site primarily owned by Cass Lake.

The excavated areas were sampled to be sure that the most contaminated soil was completely removed. Results are expected within four to six weeks. The excavated areas will remain covered and fenced until the sample results are received and reviewed. If results show additional soil needs to be excavated, more will be removed later this summer.

International Paper, which acquired Champion International in 2000, is responsible for cleaning up soil and ground-water contamination on and around the site. Champion bought the St. Regis Paper Co. in 1985.

Spartech Achieves Recycling Recognition

St. Louis, MO— Spartech Corporation has received the 2004 Recycling Award from the St. Louis Metropolitan Chapter of the National Association of Environmental Management. The NAEM Recycling Award is presented annually to the St. Louis company that demonstrates excellence by improving the volume and diversification of its recycling program. The NAEM award also recognizes companies for outstanding leadership, commitment, and achievement in environmental management.

Spartech's recycling program has long been the foundation for environmental improvements. The company has been a member of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's WasteWise program since 2001 and has been recognized annually for its continual improvement in solid waste reduction and recycling accomplishments.

Suzanne Riney, director of EH&S and quality, said: "Disposal of scrap materials, wood pallets, and cardboard packaging wastes were dramatically reduced at 22 plants, and in some cases, almost completely eliminated. At the same time, the associated reduction in landfill disposal costs and raw material costs contributed favorably to the company's conversion costs."

Precision Specialty Metals Charged with Violating Hazardous Waste Regulations

Los Angeles, CA— Precision Specialty Metals, previous owner of a Los Angeles-based stainless steel mill, has been fined $49,390 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for improperly handling and storing chromium contaminated waste salts and acid sludge.

Precision Specialty Metals has entered into a consent agreement with the EPA for violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act while improperly storing and handling hazardous waste.

In February, 2002, EPA representatives inspected Precision Specialty Metals, Inc.  Based on that inspection, the agency determined that Precision Specialty Metals had released hazardous waste from a leaky container; failed to properly label 42 hazardous waste containers; failed to properly store waste containers; and lacked proper job descriptions for employees engaged in hazardous waste handling.

Subsequent to the inspection, Precision Specialty Metals corrected these violations.

Precision Specialty Metals is currently under Chapter 7 bankruptcy; since this status does not absolve a firm from its legal obligations, the firm will request permission from the bankruptcy court to pay the fine.

Metal Management, Inc. Announces New $200 Million Credit Agreement

Chicago, IL— Metal Management, Inc. announced that it has entered into a new credit agreement with a consortium of lenders led by LaSalle Bank, N.A. The new credit agreement represents a credit commitment of $200 million with a maturity date of June 28, 2008.

The $200 million credit agreement is a revolving credit and letter of credit facility that will support the company’s working capital requirements and is also available for general corporate purposes. Borrowing costs are based on variable rates tied to the prime rate plus a margin or the London Interbank Offered Rate plus a margin. The margin is dependent on the company’s leverage ratio as determined for the trailing four fiscal quarters, which as currently measured results in an effective borrowing rate of about 2.8% per annum. Proceeds from the new credit agreement will be utilized to repay the amounts outstanding under the company’s current $110 million revolving credit facility and a $18 million term loan and to provide working capital. The company will record a one-time pre-tax charge of approximately $2 million in June 2004 associated with the write-off of unamortized financing costs related to the prior senior credit facility.

ReCellular Spreads Cell Phone Recycling to Latin America

Dexter, MI— ReCellular Inc., a wireless equipment reuse facilitator, and AHCIET, the Hispanic-American Association of Research Centers and Telecommunication Companies, announced the signing of a new five-year agreement making ReCellular the exclusive provider of cell phone recycling and refurbishing services for AHCIET member companies. The agreement spreads the environmental and social benefits of cell phone recycling to millions of wireless customers throughout South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

In late March 2004, AHCIET announced it was joining forces with ALACEL, the Latin American Association of the Wireless Industry, to form a stronger and more powerful association for wireless providers. Four months before the merger announcement, ReCellular had signed a recycling partnership with ALACEL; this relationship provided the impetus for the ReCellular-AHCIET agreement.

Caterpillar First with Full Line of EPA Certified Compliant Off-road Engines

Peoria, IL— Caterpillar Inc. further solidified its position as the emissions reduction leader on July 8, 2004, when the Environmental Protection Agency certified a full line of off-road engines as compliant with Tier 3 standards slated to go into effect in January 2005 and January 2006.

The EPA certification of seven Caterpillar engine models allows early production of cleaner Tier 3 diesel engines. It also enables Caterpillar to provide customers with a full line of engines featuring ACERT(R) technology in the 175-750 horsepower range. The company will ship fully tested Tier 3 clean diesel engines to industrial OEM customers this month. Cat machines powered by Tier 3 compliant engines will reach the market in October 2004, three months before the 2005 implementation date for the 300-750 horsepower range and fifteen months before the required 2006 implementation date for the 175-300 horsepower range.

Heil Parts Central Launches New Website

Fort Payne, AL— Parts Central, a Heil company, has launched a new web site making it possible to order parts for most refuse collection vehicles 24 hours a day. At www.partscentral.biz, waste haulers can find their local Parts Central distributors, order parts or request quotes.

Heil Certified OEM Parts and Parts, Inc. Aftermarket Parts by Heil are available locally through a global network of distributors. Even hard-to-find parts for older vehicles are available for next-day delivery.

WCA Waste Acquires Texas Environmental

Houston, TX— WCA Waste Corp-oration announced the acquisition of Texas Environmental Waste Services (TEW), a municipal solid waste collection company located in Houston. TEW has 65 employees and services approximately 45,000 customers through 19 collection routes. The transaction marks the first acquisition by WCA since successfully completing its initial public offering on June 22, 2004.

Tom J. Fatjo, Jr., chairman of WCA, stated, “The acquisition of TEW, a premier private hauling operation, will allow the company to further expand its presence in the Houston market, which already consists of four construction and demolition landfills and related hauling operations. We believe TEW provides enough volume for WCA to eventually open its municipal solid waste landfill located near Houston.

Dallas Contracting Co. Celebrates 25th Year

Dallas Contracting Co., Inc., a New Jersey based contractor, recently celebrated 25 years in business.  Clientele include large petrochemical, chemical, pharmaceutical and other conglomerates.  Typical projects have included complete demolition of old plants and facilities, remediation of contaminated soils, interior demolition or gut-outs of commercial buildings, concrete and asphalt crushing, recycling, complex rigging and dismantlement of equipment.  Dallas Contracting has also built up a sizeable equipment and truck fleet as well as an OSHA trained and efficient work force.  The company is owned John M. Sisto, Jr., president and Donald E. Sisto, vice president.

Steel Dynamics Appoints Richard Brady Manager

Fort Wayne, IN— Steel Dynamics, Inc. has appointed Richard J. Brady as manager of Ferrous Resources and Logistics. In this new corporate position, Brady will be responsible for procurement of steel scrap and other ferrous resources used for the manufacture of steel in the company’s EAF mini-mills. Based at SDI’s corporate offices in Fort Wayne, Indiana, he will work closely with SDI’s three steel-producing divisions to meet their growing requirements for high quality, competitively priced metallic resources.

“We are very pleased that Rich has joined SDI’s management team in this important role,” said Keith Busse, President and CEO of Steel Dynamics. “As Steel Dynamics continues to grow and consume greater and greater quantities of steel scrap, how we buy our ferrous resources becomes increasingly important. Rich will work with our divisions and with a network of suppliers to assure that SDI continues to obtain adequate supplies of steel scrap, which can be purchased and delivered efficiently and economically. Steel Dynamics has in the past coordinated its scrap purchases on a corporate basis, and we expect this new resource-procurement organization to strengthen this effort.”

Brady comes to Steel Dynamics with more than ten years’ experience in purchasing of ferrous metallics, having worked for the David L. Joseph Company in Chicago, Illinois, and Birmingham, Alabama. His background includes commodities trading, supply chain management, logistics and industrial sales. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri in business and served as an officer in the U.S. Army National Guard.

ENERGIS LLC Launches energisllc.com

Dundee, MI— Energis LLC, supplier of co-processing services to industry, is now accessible to customers online through the company’s new website at www.energisllc.com, according to Energis President Mario Romero.

The Energis website includes information on the company’s services, locations, personnel and contacts, along with useful data on the alternative fuels and raw materials the company co-processes.

“Our goal with the website is to be a value added, easy-to-navigate resource for our customers,” said Romero. “We think we’ve succeeded, and we welcome feedback from visitors to the site.”

Visitors to the Energis website can obtain information on specific materials the company uses in co-processing and in what form those materials are accepted. The site also includes a number of documents useful to customers, including profile sheets and credit applications.

Located in Dundee, Michigan, Energis LLC is a provider of waste co-processing services. The company markets and sells co-processing services and pre-processes waste streams into the form, consistency and uniformity required by cement kiln systems.

Sierra International Undertakes Exclusive Distributorship for IPS

Sierra International Machinery and IPS Balers have recently formed a partnership whereby Sierra will be the exclusive distributor of IPS balers to the non-ferrous market. The partnership is beneficial for both businesses and they know it will make a big impact on the market. John Sacco, president of Sierra International Machinery, and Sidney and Forrest Wildes, owners of IPS Balers, are excited about the possibilities created from this partnership.

Sierra benefits from this partnership by being able to offer a more complete line of products to the scrap processing market, while IPS will benefit by having an established sales force to promote and sell their machines. Sierra will not only be selling the IPS balers, but they will be servicing the machines as well.

For information, call your Sierra representative or (800)343-8503 to learn more about IPS non-ferrous baling applications.

Nathaniel Energy Corp. Extends Agreement

Englewood, CO— Nathaniel Energy Corporation, a leader in renewable energy, announced it has extended its agreement for two years with Cimarron Industrial Park Authority to develop 190-acre site, to begin construction of the planned Thermal Combustor waste-to-energy power plant project in Keyes, Oklahoma, adjacent to the Company’s helium and gas plant.

Nathaniel Energy expects that the project will be its U.S. showplace and multiple fuels testing facility.

Nathaniel Energy Corporation provides industry with an alternative energy comparable to that of fossil fuels. Its proprietary patented technology, the Thermal Combustor, is a two-stage gasification system designed to combust waste, biomass, tires and any other solid, carbon-based materials into inexpensive electrical and thermal energy, while exceeding the most stringent EPA and European Union regulations.

New York International Log & Lumber Co. Announces New Name

Huntington, NY— New York International Log & Lumber Co. announced a name change to Green Energy Resources, Inc. This change reflects the business of the company and the nature of the industry more closely. The company has operated with this trade name for over two years.

Olympic Mill Services Hires Technical Manager

Olympic Mill Services (OMS) has named Jamie Hamilton technical manager/aggregate sales according to Rick English, OMS vice president of marketing.

Jamie Hamilton comes to OMS with more than six years of industry experience and will have as his primary role slag and refractory reuse. He will also work on technical services with OMS customers to identify what their melt shop byproducts are and if they can be marketed.  He will then work with Tube City’s brokerage division to either find or develop markets for those byproducts.

Dave Eamigh has been named safety director/compliance manager of the Olympic Mill Services operation in Cayce, South Carolina.

Mr. Eamigh joined OMS in 1997 and has held numerous positions in Cayce.  OMS site manager Dean Bocks said that with more than 40 employees at the site, and with the growing demands of the mill, Dave Eamigh’s services in the safety area are required full time.

Roanoke Electric Steel Elects New President

Roanoke, VA— T. Joe Crawford has been elected president/chief operating officer of Roanoke Electric Steel Corporation.

T. Joe Crawford joined Roanoke Electric in 1977. He was in sales and administration before being elected vice president in 1988.

In the new position of chief operating officer, Mr. Crawford will report to Donald G. Smith, who had been president. Donald Smith remains chairman of the board, chief executive officer and treasurer.

A native of Roanoke and graduate of Virginia Tech, Crawford holds leadership roles in the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, Virginia Museum of Transportation, Junior Achievement of Southwest Virginia, the Roanoke Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center.

Cascade Engineering Recognized at Human Resource Conference

Grand Rapids, MI— Cascade Engineering has always been committed to investing in employees, the environment and innovation in manufacturing. The company was recognized recently when Cascade Engineering was cited as one of the “Best Medium Companies to Work for in America”.

The honor was announced before 12,000 human resource professionals at the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) 56th Annual Conference & Exposition in New Orleans.

Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Cascade Engineering was selected, along with 24 other mid-sized companies and 25 small companies, to attend the SHRM conference and participate in the awards ceremony. Cascade ranked 8th out of 400 total nominated companies and the top 25 attending medium-sized businesses.

RMA Offers Publication for New Scrap Tire Businesses

Washington, DC— A free scrap tire publication is now available to help entrepreneurs interested in the scrap tire industry to plan business strategies, according to the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA).

RMA, which represents tire manufacturers, has just released Considerations for Starting a Scrap Tire Company, a document that will serve as a blueprint guide to starting a company that will help put scrap tires to new uses.

“The report will be a useful tool for those considering entry into the scrap tire industry,” said Michael Blumenthal, RMA senior technical director and principal author of the guide. “One of the most important goals of developing this document will be to establish sustainable markets for scrap tires.”

The document provides a detailed market analysis, possible obstacles and suggestions for contacts that should be made during the planning process. It also covers general business practices and suggests several financial resources.

The document is available in the publications section of the RMA website at www.rma.org.

Casella Waste Announces 2004 Financial Results

Rutland, VT— Casella Waste Systems, Inc., a regional, non-hazardous solid waste services company, reported financial results for the fourth quarter and its 2004 fiscal year, and gave guidance on its expected performance for its 2005 fiscal year.

For the quarter ended April 30, 2004, the company reported revenues of $109.3 million. The company’s net loss per common share from continuing operations was $0.25. Operating income for the quarter was $4.9 million. Cash provided by operating activities in the quarter was $23.5 million. The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), and before an impairment charge, were $21.9 million.

The company’s three-month net income reflects a non-cash impairment charge in the amount of $1.7 million, the non-cash write downs of RTG and New Heights previously announced in the amount of $7.7 million, a cash write down of $350,000 on RTG and New Heights, and a gain on the sale of the export brokerage business of $1.1 million.

For the fiscal year ended April 30, 2004, the company reported revenues of $439.7 million. The fiscal year net income per common share from continuing operations was $0.09. Operating income for the year was $32.8 million. The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), and before an impairment charge for the twelve-month period was $94.2 million.

The company also announced that cash provided by operating activities for fiscal year 2004 was $69.9 million, and that the company had generated $15.3 million of free cash flow for fiscal year 2004; as of April 30, 2004, the company had cash on hand of $8.0 million, and had an outstanding total debt level of $356.7 million.

ADP Claims Services' Autosource Will Include Salvage, Title Checks

San Ramon, CA— ADP Claims Services Group, a provider of integrated business solutions for the property and casualty, collision repair and automotive recycling industries, announced that Autosource, the world’s largest database of “for sale” vehicle valuation information, has expanded to include salvage check and state title information, powered by Experian Automotive’s AutoCheck.

The expanded Autosource services will report possible undisclosed or previously unknown vehicle history, such as salvage and flood damage, that can affect an automobile’s value.

Autosource users can add salvage check and state title information to vehicle valuations. The salvage check includes information on salvage, salvage auction, salvage correction from department of motor vehicles, water damage, rebuilt/rebuildable, insurance loss and more. The state title information includes the event date, event location, odometer reading, source and event detail.

AutoCheck salvage and state title information is accessed from Experian’s National Vehicle Database.