TL:  AN ABSTRACT OF WASTE MANAGEMENT INC.: [part xi]
AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES AND OTHER MISDEEDS
SO: Greenpeace USA (GP)
DT: May 1991
Keywords: toxics us wmi waste disposal illegal problems 
business profiles greenpeace reports gp /

BY CHARLIE CRAY
THIRD EDITION REVISED - MAY 1991
GREENPEACE USA - CHICAGO, ILLINOIS [PART XI]

LANDFILLS

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently reported
that -"there is good theoretical and empirical evidence that the
hazardous constituents that are placed in land disposal
facilities very likely will migrate from the facility into the
broader environment.  This may occur several years, even many
decades, after placement of the waste in the facility, but... it
will occur eventually." (56)  WMI's toxic waste and garbage
landfills are no exception.  All landfills leak.  There is no
such thing as a secure landfill.

"A TALE OF TWO BOOKS"

Hazardous Waste Landfills

Over the past century, dumping hazardous wastes in landfills has
become an industrial tradition.  Now, hazardous wastes are being
exhumed from hundreds of leaking landfills across the U.S., and
shipped to newer landfills across the U.S., under the Superfund
program.  WMI is responsible for many of these sites, both those

--------------------
ers. (54)  The U.S. EPA eventually penalized CWM $2.5 million for
these violations, but it is estimated that WMI saved over $20
million by selling the PCBs rather than disposing them.  William
Sanjour of the U.S. EPA's Office of Solid Waste says that the
agency "never really made a strong effort to find out where [the
toxic oil] went.  By doing so, they saved  Waste Management a
hell of a lot of money.  All of those buyers
could have sued." (55)

that are being un-buried, and those that are receiving
Superfund wastes.  Most of CWM's dumps receiving Superfund and
other hazardous wastes have begun to show signs of leakage.

Others are already closed, such as CWM's toxic waste dump in
Lowry, Colorado.  The Lowry landfill has been closed since
1982, when CWM employees tried to hide a major toxic waste
leak.  According to two employees, Lowry's general manager
instructed them to keep two sets of books: one of them a
black-colored logbook to be shown to inspectors that did not
reveal the leak, the other a yellow-colored log that did
record the leak but was not given to inspectors. (57)

CWM currently operates seven hazardous waste landfills in the
U.S., including the one at Emella, Alabama, which is one of the
world's largest.  Since 1978, CWM has dumped over five
million tons of toxic wastes on what was once lush farmland, in
remote rural Alabama.  Last year alone, Emelle received
790,000 tons of wastes from 42 U.S. states and U.S. military
bases abroad. (58)

CWM's Emelle dump has experienced on-site fires, off-site
water contamination, and over two million dollars in penalties
for environmental violations.  PCBs have been found in
wetlands near the dump. (59)

In 1989, mounting evidence that the Emelle landfill will soon
contaminate a major aquifer inspired the state of Alabama
government to try to ban waste imports from states that do not
have their own hazardous waste disposal facilities. (Less than
25% of the wastes dumped in Emelle are generated in Alabama.)  In
1990, Alabama's Governor Guy Hunt proposed raising the
state tax on out-of-state waste imports to $116, to end
Alabama's status as "the waste dumping ground of the nation."
(60)

It is not a coincidence that the Emelle dumpsite is located in a
remote community, many of whose residents -- primarily
African Americans -- live in poverty.  Toxic waste is
generally dumped on those with the least economic and
political power.

According to a local official, when the dump's original
developers first announced that they were opening a facility in
Emelle in 1978, residents were told that "they had found a new
use for the Selma chalk...and we thought it was going to be some
kind of liming operation.  And lo and behold, the use they found
for the Selma chalk was the holding of chemicals." (61) And "lo
and behold," the rate of unemployment in
surrounding Sumter County rose from 5.6% in 1978 to 21% in
1986 as clean industry left and plants shut down. (62)

It is probably also no coincidence that WMI's second largest
toxic waste dump (and the fifth largest in the U.S.) is
located in Kettleman Hills, California, a small, remote
community of primarily Spanish-speaking farm workers. (*)

In 1988, the Kettleman Hills dump suffered a toxic landslide.  As
CWM wrote, "We encountered an unfortunate incident in one section
of our...  Kettleman Hills facility.  For an as yet unknown
reason, part of the landfill's liner system pulled
away from its anchor on March 19."  According to CWM, the
accident caused "extensive damage" to the landfill's top liner
and its leachate collection system. (65)

In 1989, the state of California fined CWM $82,500 for eleven
violations of environmental regulations, including failure to
report a fire and discrepancies on written records for weight and
volumes of wastes received.  That brought the total amount of
fines, penalties and settlements paid by CWM for its
Kettleman Hills operations to over $4,000,000. (66)

Similar histories of fines and evidence of groundwater con-
tamination are evident at other WMI/CWM toxic waste dumps in Port
Arthur, Texas; Carlyss, Louisiana; Arlington, Oregon;
Joliet and Calumet City, Illinois; and Furley, Kansas.
 
[Greenbase Inventory June 30, 1991 ]
  @ AN ABSTRACT OF
WASTE MANAGEMENT INC.:
AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES AND OTHER MISDEEDS
BY CHARLIE CRAY
THIRD EDITION REVISED - MAY 1991
GREENPEACE USA - CHICAGO, ILLINOIS [PART XII]

"WE ARE A HICK TOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE"

Radioactive Waste Landfills

WMI is also capitalizing on the growing and lucrative "low-
level" radioactive waste disposal market in the U.S.  This
type of waste includes dangerous radionuclides generated by
commercial nuclear power reactors, industry, and research and
medical institutions.  Wastes dumped in "low-level"
radioactive waste dumps range from radioactive animal
carcasses and contaminated clothes to radioactive hardware and
pipes, resins and sludges from nuclear reactors.

The largest "low-level" radioactive waste service company in the
country, CWM's subsidiary, Chem-Nuclear Systems, operates one of
three licensed commercial "low-level" radioactive waste dumps in
the U.S., in Barnwell, South Carolina.  Like most of WMI's
network of hazardous waste landfills, the Barnwell dump is
leaking.  In 1982, a U.S. Geological Survey report found that
radioactive tritium is migrating "downward, outward and upward

--------------------
* - Another alleged form of racial exploitation at a WMI-owned
toxic waste disposal site: In 1989, four CWM employees and one
former employee at the Carlyss, Louisiana, toxic waste dump sued
CWM for racial discrimination in hiring and promotion
practices.  One worker claims he was harassed by CWM
officials, another says that his firing was racially-
motivated, and that co-workers verbally abused him with racial
slurs. (64)

from the buried waste."  The survey reports contamination of
water beneath the buried waste, including tritium levels 100
times higher than background levels. (67)

The Barnwell dump is expected to close before the end of 1992.
By then, Chem Nuclear hopes to open at least four new
radioactive waste dumps (in Connecticut, Illinois, North
Carolina and Pennsylvania) under the Low Level Radioactive
Waste Policy Act, which encourages the construction of
regional radioactive waste dumps across the country.

Chem Nuclear also operates a nuclear waste compacting station in
Channahon, Illinois.  The station began operation in
January 1987, without WMI informing local residents, including
the mayor.  "The whole thing that is upsetting to us here is that
we are a hick town in the middle of nowhere, and they
think they can dump on us," said the town's mayor.  The U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission agreed that the company may not
have adequately informed the Channahon police and fire
departments about the presence of low-level radioactive waste.
(68)

In 1990, an Illinois Senate Executive subcommittee accused WMI
and state officials of secretly agreeing to relocate Chem Nu-
clear's supercompactor to Martinsville, Illinois.  The
"confidential side agreement" also allows Chem Nuclear to
expand planned operations at a proposed regional nuclear dump in
Martinsville.  CNSI denied the agreement existed before the state
acknowledged its existence.  The director of the
Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety was fired over the
incident. (69)
 
[Greenbase Inventory June 30, 1991 ]
  @ AN ABSTRACT OF
WASTE MANAGEMENT INC.:
AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES AND OTHER MISDEEDS
BY CHARLIE CRAY
THIRD EDITION REVISED - MAY 1991
GREENPEACE USA - CHICAGO, ILLINOIS [PART XIII]

GARBAGE DUMPING & WMI'S SHAM RECYCLING EFFORTS

At the beginning of 1990, WMI operated 127 landfills for
house-hold garbage in North America.  The U.S. EPA has warned
that household waste landfills "have degraded and continue to
degrade the environment." (70)  Contamination at almost 200
garbage dumps has been so severe that they have been declared
Superfund sites.  WMI is a partially responsible party for the
Superfund "cleanup" of at least 15 garbage landfills.

Because of its track record, WMI's landfill-siting strategy in
some instances has been to mask its identity by creating a
subsidiary company with no obvious ties to WMI.  Another
strategy WMI has used is have an existing local operator
develop a new landfill and then hand it over to WMI for a fee.
Old landfills are often relatively cheap, because they are
leaking or otherwise in trouble and nobody else wants the
associated liabilities.  WMI promise local officials it will
clean up the mess if it receives authority to reopen, or keep
open, a troubled landfill.  Under these circumstances, local
officials have little choice.  If they refuse, the WMI
subsidiary can file for bankruptcy, which puts responsibility for
cleanup on the public.

When it comes to privatizing municipal garbage disposal
services, some officials worry that there will be no way to
control prices on a long-term basis and control what goes into a
landfill.  Local officials also have little say over who
dumps their waste once a landfill is turned over to private
operators.

WMI plans to open 60 new garbage dumps and many new garbage
incinerators.  These new landfills and incinerators will not just
contaminate our drinking water and air, their
availability will discourage real solutions to the garbage
crisis: the reduction in the toxicity of garbage, and the
implementation of maximum waste recycling, composting,
reduction and reuse programs.

U.S. television networks often air advertisements that portray
WMI as the country's leading recycler.  Yet very little waste
recyclable handled by WMI is ever recycled.  In 1989, WMI
hauled away recyclables for recycling from just 16% of their
household customers.

A recent article in Business Week explains the importance of
WMI's small but highly-visible recycling program: "even though
recycling has yet to turn a profit, it's working... to pull in
business for WMI's landfill operations, which boast a pretax
profit margin of 20%." (72)  WMI probably has not invested
more heavily in recycling because it gets people thinking
about pollution prevention and waste reduction--direct threats to
the company's revenue, which is generated almost entirely from
waste disposal.

Currently, the U.S. recycles about 13% of its solid waste.  The
EPA has set a national goal of 25% reduction in the waste stream
through recycling.  New Jersey has set a goal of 65%.  Studies by
institutions such as the Center for Biology of
Natural Systems in New York have shown that between 70 and 90
percent of the household waste stream can be eliminated
through an intensive recycling, composting and waste reduction
program.  WMI officers, such as William Hulligan, president of WM
of North America, claim that only 10 to 20 percent of
household waste can be reduced through recycling. (73)

Even where Recycle America and Recycle First (WMI and
Wheelabrator's recycling divisions) operate extensive
recycling programs, the company has not eliminated the use of
landfills and incinerators.  For example, in San Jose,
California, where it runs a showcase recycling program, WMI
continues to heap garbage in a leaking dump in a canyon
occupied by an endangered type of butterfly. (74)  WMI says they
have taken steps to preserve the butterfly; the dumping continues
and time will tell.

In March, 1991, the Arkansas Gazette reported that heavy
lobbying by WMI and BFI derailed part of Governor Bill
Clinton's package of garbage and recycling bills.  The paper
quoted Representative Byrum Gibson (sponsor of the bills)
saying, "We all know what will happen if those bills don't
pass.  BFI and Waste Management will be the two czars of the
state in five years, and we'll pay whatever garbage fees they
want us to pay." (84)

Aware of WMI's motivations and history of operations,
communities like Oak Park, Illinois, have chosen alternative
contractors over WMI for city recycling contracts.  The city of
Tamarac, Florida, turned down WMI's offer to handle
residential recycling "because of uncertainty of the fairness of
the proposed pact." WMI's subsidiary, Recycle America, was also
blocked in its attempt to take over a Montevallo, Alabama church-
based recycling program. (75)

Waste Management's new image as a recycler should not,
therefore, be confused with a sincere desire to reduce
household waste.  Nor should anyone be fooled by CWM's Waste
Reduction Consulting Services division, which does next to
nothing to prevent the production of waste by industry.
According to one industry analyst, CWM's Waste Reduction
Consulting Service "tends in the balance to result in more
waste for [CWM] facilities." (85)

True "toxics use reduction" does not mean shifting toxic expo-
sures between workers, consumers and various segments of the
environment.  True "toxics use reduction" means changing raw
materials, products, and production processes to avoid the use of
toxics.

CWM's Waste Reduction division focuses entirely on the
reduction of hazardous waste after it has been produced by an
industrial plant.  For example, it advises companies to divert
wastes from a deionizing wastewater treatment process and dump
them directly into the sewer, instead of into a treatment
plant. (76)

CWM also recommends, and engages in, shipping toxic solvent
wastes to cement kilns where they are burned as fuel.  Federal
regulations allow waste generators to reclassify solvent
wastes as "recycled" when delivered for blending as a
supplemental fuel for cement kilns.  This sham "recycling"
loophole in federal law has transformed the cement
manufacturing industry into a major disposal point for toxic
wastes.  Cement kilns "recycle" (by which they mean burn)
three billion pounds of toxic wastes annually. (77)

Since 1988, CWM has become a supplier of solvent waste fuel for
many cement kilns in the U.S. and for a WMI-owned
incinerator in Mexico.  The company's West Carrollton, Ohio,
solvent fuel blending plant received over 108 million pounds of
chlorinated solvent wastes from 26 states in 1989.  CWM
currently operates fuel blending facilities in Newark, New
Jersey; Azusa, California; Henderson, Colorado; and Tijuana,
Mexico.  CWM's hazardous waste landfills in Alabama and
Chicago also ship solvents to cement kilns. (78)
 
[Greenbase Inventory June 30, 1991 ]
  @ AN ABSTRACT OF
WASTE MANAGEMENT INC.:
AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES AND OTHER MISDEEDS
BY CHARLIE CRAY
THIRD EDITION REVISED - MAY 1991
GREENPEACE USA - CHICAGO, ILLINOIS [PART XIV]

THE EMPIRE EXPANDS

WMI is diversifying rapidly into operations such as asbestos
removal (Brand Companies) and Superfund site remediation
(ENRAC division), whose profitability takes advantage of the
historical failure of industry to reduce waste and convert to the
use of safe materials and clean technologies.  WMI is also going
into such industries as the lawn pesticide business, a business
whose entire existence is sustained through the
unnecessary and harmful dispersion of chemicals.

WMI is also quickly expanding from North America to the rest of
the world.  Waste Management's International division now
accounts for 10% of the company's total revenue.  Earlier this
year, Thomas Smith, WMI's manager of Far East business
development, predicted that Asia will replace North America as
the biggest WMI customer within 20 years.  WMI has entered
into a partnership with a ministerial-level investment wing of
the government of China in a bid for a chemical waste plant in
Hong Kong. (79)

This is not the first time WMI's search for profits across the
globe have taken precedence over concerns for human safety and
human rights.  In 1979, during the height of Argentine govern-
ment-sponsored "disappearances" of thousands of political dis-
sidents, Waste Management took advantage of the country's move to
privatize services by entering into a ten-year municipal contract
to haul garbage in Buenos Aires.  Dean Buntrock,
WMI's chief executive officer, commented at the time that the
contract with the city "reflects the pro-business policies of the
federal government which have created an attractive
atmosphere in Argentina." (80)

WMI's biggest current expansion is in Europe.  An investment firm
recently reported that WMI "has grown its European
business from $35 million to $500 million annually over the past
two years." WMI expects that its 1990 European revenues will
exceed $700 million.  By May 1990, WMI held contracts in more
than 325 European communities. (81)

The company is establishing major operations in Sweden, the
Netherlands, Spain, France, Germany and Italy.  WMI operates a
hazardous waste incinerator in Moerdijk, Netherlands.  It is
trying to gain control over the French waste management firm,
PEC, whose subsidiary, Tredi, operates five incinerators in
France.  WMI is also believed to be trying to take over
Italy's largest waste hauling company, SASPI, which would give
WMI 55% of the Italian garbage hauling market. (82)
 
[Greenbase Inventory June 30, 1991 ]
  @ AN ABSTRACT OF
WASTE MANAGEMENT INC.:
AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES AND OTHER MISDEEDS
BY CHARLIE CRAY
THIRD EDITION REVISED - MAY 1991
GREENPEACE USA - CHICAGO, ILLINOIS [PART XV]

FIGHT THE POWER THAT POLLUTES

Greenpeace and other environmentalists and community groups
around the world are fighting WMI with ever-increasing success as
the company's dismal track record--and the fundamentally
destructive nature of all its technologies--is revealed.  It is
our hope that this report will help generate even more
success in blocking WMI and other companies' attempts to site new
disposal facilities.

Here are just a few of the places where, since 1988, a combin-
ation of knowledge of WMI's troubled history, combined with
community pressure, forced WMI to cancel plans to burn, bury or
store hazardous wastes and garbage:

Douglas County, Colorado
Dallas County, Missouri
Nobel County, Indiana
Rapid City, South Dakota
Anchorage, Alaska
Stickney, Illinois
New York City
Pike County, Mississippi
Palmer, Massachusetts
New Orleans East, Louisiana
Calumet City, Illinois
Blairsville, Pennsylvania

A well-informed, firmly entrenched group can keep WMI's unsafe
operations out of a community.  These groups have proven that WMI
is vulnerable.  Grassroots groups across the continent
have publicized WMI's sorry history, used civil disobedience, and
forced authorities to enact local ordinances to prevent this
company from entering their community.  Greenpeace, the Citizens'
Clearinghouse for Hazardous Wastes, and many well-organized
grassroots groups can help you learn how to organize such a
group.

We hope this report will aid community groups, enforcement
officials, and public employees across the world in their
decisions about dealing with WMI.


THE END?

This abstract is incomplete and has no ending -- because there is
no apparent ending to the company's assault on the global
environment.  At the same time, there is a growing movement for
environmental justice around the world, and a growing
sense that things can and must change before it's too late.

Please send us your information about the company and your
success in stopping their efforts to expand, so we can help
complete the story.  Send information, with complete
references (including page numbers) to the address listed
below.

The full report, "Waste Management Inc.: An Encyclopedia of
Environmental Crimes and other Misdeeds," is voluminous and will
provides citizens with hundreds of pages of facts,
figures and stories about the world's largest waste hauler.

To receive the full Waste Management Encyclopedia, please send
$20.00 to:

Waste Management Inc. Encyclopedia Project
Greenpeace USA
1017 W. Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, Illinois  60607
USA
 
[Greenbase Inventory June 30, 1991 ]
  @ AN ABSTRACT OF
WASTE MANAGEMENT INC.:
AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES AND OTHER MISDEEDS
BY CHARLIE CRAY
THIRD EDITION REVISED - MAY 1991
GREENPEACE USA - CHICAGO, ILLINOIS [PART XVI]

OTHER SOURCES

Other excellent sources of information about Waste Management
Inc. include:

Waste Management Inc.: A Corporate Profile, published by the
Citizens' Clearinghouse for Hazardous Wastes in 1988.  This
manual is designed to arm citizens with information needed to
fight WMI in every community.  The report is available from CCHW,
P.O. Box 8606, Falls Church, VA; telephone: (703)
237-2249.  See also, "There Ought Be a Law," by Brian Lipsett and
Will Collette, an article about enacting contract crimes
ordinances in your community, in the June issue of "Everyone's
Backyard."  Each issue of "Everyone's Backyard" covers the
latest in WMI follies, misdemeanors, and crimes.

The newsletter, Rachel's Hazardous Waste News, edited by Peter
Montague.  Available from: [Address:] Environment Research
Foundation, P.O. Box 73700, Washington, DC 20056-3700.
Subscription
rate: $40 per year for individuals and citizens groups, $15 for
students and seniors.

A series of articles about WMI and Browning-Ferris Industries by
reporters from the Ft. Lauderdale News/Sun-Sentinel.  A
news-magazine edition of the series, titled The Titans of
Trash, was published by the newspaper in December 1988.

For the early history of the waste hauling industry, including
the birth and growth of WMI and BFI, see Harold Crooks, Dirty
Business: The Inside Story of the New Garbage Agglomerates
(Toronto: James Lorimer & Co., 1983).  Contact the Canadian Union
of Public Employees, John Calvert, Research Department, 21
Florence St., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2P OW6.

For more information about WMI's garbage incineration
subsidiary, Wheelabrator Technologies, see: [Address] Waste Not, a
weekly publication of Work on Waste USA, Inc., 82 Judson,
Canton, N.Y.  13617, telephone: (315) 379-9200, and Robert
Collins, Bad Deals and Broken Promises: A Survey of
Wheelabrator's Performance, (Washington, DC: Clean Water Fund,
September, 1989).  Copies are available from Clean Water Fund,
1320 18th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.  Telephone: (202)
546-6614.


NOTES

1. Waste Management Inc., "Company Fact Sheet" (Oak Brook, IL:
Waste Management, Inc., 1990).  Mark Sulam, "Waste Services
Industry Review," (NY: Kidder Peabody Equity Research, June 27,
1990).  Vishnu Swarup, "Pollution Control Industry" (New York:
Prudential-Bache Securities, July, 1989), p. 3.

2. Calvin Trillin, "Uncivil Liberties," The Nation, May 28, 1988,
p. 738.  Associated Press, "Waste Company Chief Highest Paid
Executive in State at $8.5 Million," Mt. Vernon [IL]
Region-News, May 15, 1989, p. 1.

3. State of Wisconsin Circuit Court, Milwaukee County, State of
Wisconsin vs. Acme Disposal, et al. [Complaint filed in
1962], p. 7.

4. Brian Bremner, "Waste Management: A Rogue, or a Star?,"
Crain's Chicago Business, October 12, 1987, p. 1.  Harold
Crooks, Dirty Business: The Inside Story of the New Garbage
Agglomerates (Toronto: James Lorimer & Co., 1983).  Fred
Schulte, "Laws Provide Little Deterrent to Price Fixing [in
'Titans of Trash' series]", Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel,
December 7, 1987, p. 1.

5. Culp, Guterson, et al., "Report on Charges and Claims of
Corrupt Practices, Price Fixing, Violations of Environmental
Standards at Landfills, etc.," presented to Seattle City
Council, November 16, 1989, p. 38.  Available from: Culp,
Guterson, 27th floor, 1 Union Square, 600 University St.,
Seattle, WA 98101-3143; phone (206) 624-7141.  Memo entitled
"Compliance History report" from Kathryn Jones Cooper,
Assistant Attorney General to the North Carolina Joint Select
Committee on Low-Level Radioactive Waste (Raleigh, NC: North
Carolina Department of Justice, July 21, 1989), p. 16.
Available from: State of North Carolina Department of Justice,
P.O. Box 629, Raleigh 27602-0629.  See also Schulte, cited
above.

6. Schulte, cited above.

7. Culp, Guterson, et al., cited above, pp. 39-40.  Bill
Richards, "Two Waste Firms to Pay $700,000 in Ohio Lawsuit," Wall
Street Journal, August 16, 1988, p. 1.

8. Associated Press, "Garbage hauler collects fine in price
fixing case," Pensacola News-Journal, January 17, 1988, p.
1.L. Stuart Ditzen and Mark Jaffe, "Price-fixing accusations
follow Waste Management and BFI," Philadelphia Inquirer, May 9,
1988, p. 4.  North Carolina Department of Justice, cited above.
Rick Pierce, "Hauler Fined $1 million, Waste
Management Inc. Pleads No Contest in U.S. Suit," Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, January 13, 1988, p. 1.

9. Culp, Guterson, et al., cited above.  Frank Donze,
"Officials say garbage collector threatened lives," New
Orleans Times-Picayune, October 7, 1988, p. B1.

10. Edwin Chen, "Waste Hauler Fined $1 million in Price-Fixing
Case," Los Angeles Times, March 14, 1989, Metro Section, p. 1

11. "Reiner Sees Pervasive Cartel Conspiracy by Trash Hauling
Firms," Los Angeles Times, June 10, 1987, p. 6.

12. Associated Press, "Top Garbage Hauler Fined $1 million,"
Columbus Dispatch, January 17, 1988, p. 1.  Ditzen and Jaffe,
cited above.

13. Ralph Blumenthal, "Waste Hauler's Business Acts Faulted," New
York Times, March 24, 1983, p. 1.  Robert McClure and Fred
Schulte, "Bribery Investigations Dog Waste Hauler," Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, December 8, 1987, p. 1.

?14. U.S. Federal Electoral Committee, as reported in the
Universal Almanac, 1990, p. 95.

15. B. Jackson, "Interest Groups Pay Millions in Appearance Fees
to Get Legislators to Listen as Well as to Speak," Wall Street
Journal, June 4, 1985, p. 1.  Common Cause, press
release, June 25, 1986.

16. M. Burke, "Waste corporation tries selling self to commis-
sioners," Pensacola Journal, November 14, 1984, p. 1.  Robert
McClure and Fred Schulte, "Bribery Investigations," cited
above.

17. Associated Press, "Business, Lobby Give Money to Alabama
Legislators," Atlanta Constitution, September 14, 1988, p.
A11. Brightman Brock, "To keep or not to keep is question,"
Mobile [AL] Register, December 19, 1985, p. 1.

18. Rick Pierce and Fred Schulte, "Haulers Curry Favor in Com-
munity," Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, December 8, 1987, p. 1.

19. W. Gaines and D. Baquet, "City can't dispose of waste
firm," Chicago Tribune, June 29, 1986, p. 1.

20. Brock, cited above.

21. M. Possley, "Guilty pleas by bribery case figure," Chicago
Tribune, May 19, 1988, p. 1.  M. Possley and R. Davis, "Ex.-Ald.
Kelley to plead guilty," Chicago Tribune, April 24,
1987, p. 1.

22. W. Crawford, Jr., "Waste company official jailed for bri-
bery," Chicago Tribune, March 14, 1986, p. 1.

23. K. Seigenthaler, "Kane County Official Linked to '81 Dona-
tion," Chicago Tribune, August 25, 1988, Metro Section, p. 1.

24. S. Neal, "Toxic Eddie flies free on Waste Management
jets,"  Chicago Sun Times, October 19, 1988.  Andrew Webb,
"Waste Management Cleans Up," Chicago Magazine, June, 1990, p.
122.

25. C. Peterson and H. Kurtz, "EPA Speeds Friend's Permit,"
Washington Post, February 19, 1983, p. 1.  Keith Schneider, "The
Leper Ships: Incinerators Sent to Sea," Oceans Magazine, May,
1984, p. 65.

26. Jonathan Lash, A Season of Spoils: The Reagan Admini-
stration's Attack on the Environment (New York: Pantheon
Books, 1984).

27. List of WMI environmental grants recipients provided by WMI,
1990.

28. J. McNeill, "Protective Instincts at the EPA, Part II:
Keeping Reilly Covered," In These Times, November 22, 1989, p.
12.  Waste Management Inc., State Initiatives to Inhibit
Development of Hazardous Waste Disposal Capacity and to
Restrict Interstate Shipment of Hazardous Waste [briefing
paper prepared for Dean Buntrock's breakfast meeting with
William Reilly] (Oak Brook, IL: Waste Management, Inc., 1989).
T. Martin and J. Healy, "Ecologists Outraged Over Attack on
Program," Winston-Salem Journal, April 21, 1989, p. 11.  J. Hair,
president of the National Wildlife Federation, letter to
Elizabeth Spence, executive director of South Carolina
Wildlife Federation, December 21, 1989.  A. Gold, "House Panel
Opens Inquiry Into EPA Office," New York Times, December 10,
1989, p. 5.

29. "Federation Hires Chief, Plans Campaign; New International
Law Effort," The Chronicle of Philanthropy, July 25, 1989, p.
15.; Peter Montague, "EGA Gives WMI the Boot," Rachel's
Hazardous Waste News #181, May 16, 1990, p. 2.

30. M. Nolan, "Church refuses donation from Waste Management,"
The [Chicago] Times, December 28, 1986, p. 1.

31. Rick Pierce and Fred Schulte, "Haulers Curry Favor in Com-
munity," Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, December 8, 1987, p. 1.

32. David Hanson, "Hazardous Waste Management: Planning to
Avoid Future Problems," C&EN [Chemical and Engineering News],
Vol. 67, No. 31, (July 1989), pp. 9-18.  John L. Warren,
"Status of Hazardous Waste Management in the United States: Focus
on Incineration," presented at: "Incineration of
Industrial Wastes: Fourth Annual National Symposium," Houston,
Texas, February 28 - March 2, 1990.

33. Fred Schulte and Robert McClure, "Nation's Top Two Garbage
Haulers leave Legacy of Pollution, Soaring Prices," Ft.
Lauderdale News/Sun-Sentinel December 6, 1987, p. 1.

34. CWM Form 10K, filed with the Securities Exchange
Commission, 1989, p. 9.

35. Correspondence from Hugh Kaufman [of U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Washington, DC, to John Martin, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General, dated
October 17, 1989.

36. Franklin Research and Development [of Boston, MA], "How One
Investment Firm Rates 25 Companies on the Environment," Fortune
Feb. 12, 1990, p. 27.

37. Jim Ritter, "S. Side Incinerator Hit With a Second Big
Fine," Chicago Sun-Times, October 9, 1990, p. 1.

38. Casey Bukro, "Illinois EPA wants to shut Southeast Side
incinerator," Chicago Tribune, April 22, 1988, Section 2, p. 3.

39. D. Nelson, "Foes step up attack on incinerator," Chicago Sun
Times, October 2, 1989, p. 1.  Andrew Webb, "Waste
Management Cleans Up," Chicago Magazine, July, 1990, p. 122.

40. R. Bergsvik, "Incinerator to stay open," [Calumet City, IL]
Daily Calumet, June 16, 1989, p. 1.  "Charge 219 companies
polluted local streams," The News [Chicago], April 26, 1990, p.
12.  Chicago Metropolitan Water Reclamation District,
Summary of FOIA Report, May 24, 1990.  D. Nelson, October 2,
1989.

41.  A. Smith and J. Aubuchon, "Waste company will pay
penalty," Belleville [IL] News-Democrat, February 17, 1990, p. 1.

42. P. Kemezis, "Chemical Waste Outlines Ambitious Expansion
Plans," Environment Week, February 22, 1990, p. 1.

43. J. Hutson, "How Clean are the Titans of Trash?," New Hamp-
shire Broadcaster, July 5, 1989, p. 1.  M. O'Conner, "Waste firm
conquers new worlds," Chicago Tribune, February 7, 1988, p. C1.
B. Richards and F. Rose, "Henley and Waste Management to merge
trash to energy lines into a new firm," Wall Street Journal,
April 22, 1988, p. 3.

44. R. Pierce, "City Gets Burned," Ft. Lauderdale Sun-
Sentinel,  December 10, 1987, p. 1.

45. "Draft Technical Support Document to Proposed Dioxins and
Cadmium Control Measure for Medical Waste Incinerators,"
prepared by the California Air Resources Board, 1990, cited in
Rachel's Hazardous Waste News #179, May 2, 1990.

46. "Waste Management's Growing Medical Services," WMI Report
[WMI newsletter], October, 1989, p. 3.

47. Correspondence from D. Budd, Ohio EPA Division of Solid and
Hazardous Waste, to George Hubert, Multi Tech Industries Inc.
[WMI's medical services division], April 3, 1989, p. 1.

48. Correspondence between the Terrel, Texas, city government,
the Texas Department of Heath, the U.S. EPA, the Texas Air
Control Board and Waste Management Inc., October 20, 1988 to
December 22, 1989.

49. H. Scarlett, "Environmental group gives notice about
suit," Houston Post, March 2, 1989, p. A21.

50. The same.

51. "Ohio EPA Study Says Waste management Unit's Wells
Leaked," Wall Street Journal April 6, 1984, p. ?.

52. Moid U. Ahmad, affidavit in support of motion for
preliminary injunction, William I. Warner, et al., v. Waste
Management Inc., [Case No. 83-CV-781, Sandusky County [OH]
Court of Appeals], October, 1986, p. 6.

53. Release, acknowledgement and agreement, in the case of
William I. Warner, et al., v. Waste Management Inc., et al. [Case
No. 83-CV-781, Sandusky County [OH] Court of Appeals] [no date:
Jan., 1990?].  J. Immel, "Chem Waste settlement
OK'd," Fremont [Ohio] News-Messenger, January 27, 1990, p. 1.

54. J. Cook, "Waste Management Cleans Up," Forbes, November 18,
1985, pp. 88-89.  A. Pasztor, "WMI is cited by EPA over PCBs,
contaminated heating oil," Wall Street Journal, January 25, 1985,
p. ?.

55. Andrew Webb, "Waste Management Cleans Up," Chicago
Magazine, June, 1990, p. 122.

56. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Solid Waste
Disposal Facility Criteria," Federal Register August 30, 1988, p.
33345.

57. Eric Finke, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, memo
entitled "RCRA Inspection Report, EPA Region 8, Waste
Management Branch.  Denver-Arapahoe Chemical Waste Processing
Facility, Aurora, CO September 16 and 17, 1982."

58. J. Horan and D. Suchetka, "Company to oversee waste site
plagued by fines, lawsuits," Charlotte [NC] Observer, March 25,
1990, p. 1.  Kemezis, cited above.

59. Associated Press, "Radioactive metal dust buried at area
landfill," Tuscaloosa [AL] News, October 20, 1987. p. 1.  D.
Loverude, "Lawmaker wants radioactive waste removed from
state," and "Credibility Problem," Montgomery [AL] Advertiser,
October 22, 1987, p. C1.

60. Kemezis, cited above.

61. B. Brock, "Dioxin find to instigate Emelle probes," Mobile
[AL] Register, December 15, 1984, p. ?.

62. J. Greene, "The Poisoning [of Emelle, Alabama]," Southern
Magazine, February, 1988, p. 26.

63. R. Clemings,"New contamination discovered: tests at
Kettleman Hills site unearth cyanide in ground water," Fresno
Bee, March 27, 1986, p. 1.

64. Shirley Haupt, "Workers Sue; Claim Racial Bias at CWMI,"
Southwest Daily News, February 12, 1989, p. 1.

65. Letter from Steven Drew, CWM Regional Community Relations
Manager, to "Environmental and Public Interest Group Leaders,"
April 5, 1988, p. 1.  R. Clemings, "Kettleman landfill unit shut
down," Fresno Bee, March 24, 1988, p. B1.

66. R. Nielsen, "ChemWaste Deluged with Questions," Hanford [WA]
Sentinel, June 30, 1988, p. 1.

67. Brenda H. Smith, "U.S. Government Studies Contradict
Spiker's Beliefs," Solomon Valley Post March 19, 1987, p. 1.

68. Casey Bukro, "Nuclear waste plant moves in without
whisper; town hollers," Chicago Tribune, January 26, 1987, p. 1.
Casey Bukro, "Nuclear safety unit hit on compactor,"
Chicago Tribune, January 29, 1987, p. 1.  "CNSI Sued for
Planned Waste Compactor," Nuclear News, April, 1987, pp. 57-58.

69. C. Nicodemus, "Secret nuke plan bared," Chicago Sun-Times,
March 18, 1990, p. 1.

70. U.S. EPA, Solid Waste Report to Congress, cited above.

72. B. Bremner, "Recycling: the newest wrinkle in Waste
Management's bag," Business Week, March 5, 1990, pp. 48-49.

73. Barry Commoner, Making Peace With the Planet (NY: Pantheon
Books, 1990).  Correspondence from Hans Mueller, Surveillance and
Enforcement Branch, Division of Solid Waste Management, Texas
Department of Health, to Kevin Yard, MNA, Inc., December 22,
1989.  Waste Management, Inc., 1987 Annual Report to
Stockholders (Oak Brook, IL: Waste Management, Inc., 1987), p.
11.

74. D. Rodebaugh, "Landfill leak expected by opponents," San
Jose Mercury News, March 10, 1989, p. 1B.  D. Rodebaugh,
"Landfill toxics ooze toward water," San Jose Mercury News, March
9, 1989, p. 1B.  B. Witt, "Little competition foreseen in trash
service," San Jose Mercury News, January 6, 1988, p. 1.

75. T. Jensen, "Tamarac Recycling Program Talks Stalled," Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, February 15, 1989, p. 3.

76. Chemical Waste Management, Waste Reduction Services (Oak
Brook, IL: Chemical Waste Management, Inc., 1989), p. 5.

77. For more information on the use of hazardous waste in
cement   and aggregate kilns, see Pat Costner and Joe
Thornton, Sham Recyclers, Part I: Hazardous Wastes
Incineration in Cement and Aggregate Kilns (Washington, DC:
Greenpeace U.S.A., 1990).

78. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. "1988 Facility
Annual CAPs Report: CWM Recovery, Inc."  [An undated computer
printout provided to the author by Ohio Environmental
Protection Agency, June, 1990).

79. G. Aderman, "U.S. Waste Specialist Opens Asian Office,"
Journal of Commerce, February 7, 1990, p. ?.  Alex Brown and
Sons, "Waste Management Inc.-- Company Report," April 1, 1990.
Waste Management Inc., WMI Report [a WMI newsletter], June
1990.

80. H. Crooks, cited above.

81. Investext, May 14, 1990.  "U.S. waste major targets
European acquisition," European Chemical News, Vol. 52,
February 13, 1989, p. 1.

82. M. Hamilton, "Turning Trash Into Cash," The Washington
Post, July 8, 1990, p. H1.

83. Robert Bergsvick, "Explosion Closes Incinerator,"
Southtown Economist," Feb. 14, 1991, p. A3.  Correspondence from
Mary A. Gade, Director, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
[Springfield, IL], to Kurt Frey, General Manager,
Chicago Incinerator [also known as "the SCA Incinerator"], CWM
Chemical Services, Inc., dated Feb. 21, 1991.

84. Caroline Decker, "Three Garbage Bills Dumped," [Little
Rock] Arkansas Gazette, March 14, 1991, special section, p. 3.

85. Investext, Waste Management - Company Report (Published by
the NewsNet online computer database service, dated September 8,
1990).

86. Rick Pierce and Fred Schulte, "Inflated Prices Help
Profits Pile Up," Ft. Lauderdale [FL] Sun Sentinel December 7,
1987, p. 1.

87. M. Possley, "Ex-Lobbyist Pleads Guilty to Fraud," Chicago
Tribune Feb. 5, 1987, p. 1.

=END=
[Greenbase Inventory June 30, 1991 ]
@ AN ABSTRACT OF
WASTE MANAGEMENT INC.:
AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES AND OTHER MISDEEDS
BY CHARLIE CRAY
THIRD EDITION REVISED - MAY 1991
GREENPEACE USA - CHICAGO, ILLINOIS [Part II]

WMI AT A GLANCE

Waste Management Inc. is the world's largest waste disposal
company.  Its annual revenue grew from 76 million dollars in 1971
to six billion dollars in 1990.  It ranks 19th in the
Fortune 500 list of the largest diversified service companies in
the U.S.  It hauls garbage from almost eight million
households in the U.S., in over 1350 communities.  It operates
over 128 landfills in at least 36 states. (1)  Each landfill is a
time bomb in the earth, waiting to poison future
generations when it begins to leak.

According to a Prudential-Bache securities analyst, WMI's sub-
sidiary, Chemical Waste Management (CWM), is the largest
hazardous waste disposal company in the U.S.  CWM controls up to
one-third of the entire U.S. commercial hazardous waste
treatment and disposal capacity.  CWM's revenues doubled in the
late 1980s, and the company earned over one billion
dollars in revenue in 1990. (1)

WMI also controls the largest nuclear waste disposal firm in the
U.S. (Chem-Nuclear), owns 49% of the U.S.' largest
asbestos removal company (Brand Industries), and owns 55% of the
U.S.' largest garbage incineration firm (Wheelabrator
Technologies).

Waste Management's growth is achieved mainly by devouring its
competitors -- smaller waste haulers, and disposal firms --
from the streets of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Venezuela.  In some
cases their tactics--which reportedly include bid-
rigging, predatory pricing, price-fixing and even alleged
physical threats--have resulted in criminal and civil suits.

The corporation's growth has paid WMI's executives handsomely.
WMI's president, Philip Rooney, earned $14,276,000 in 1987.
Donald Flynn, a WMI senior vice-president, received
$13,217,000 in 1987, and Dean Buntrock, the Chief Executive
Officer of WMI, was the highest paid CEO in Illinois in 1988. (2)
 
[Greenbase Inventory June 30, 1991 ]