Poolbeg Incinerator Run by New Jersey's Culture?

Is Covanta influenced by New Jersey's Culture? Will the proposed Poolbeg Incinerator be run using New Jersey's best?

The arrests come in a state that is no stranger to political corruption. The former mayors of Newark, Paterson and Camden, to name but a few, have or are serving time in prison. Wayne Bryant, a former state senator, is due to be sentenced for fraud and bribery on Friday. Until recently, “double-dipping”, holding two elected positions, was the norm.

• Handing out public-sector contracts to political donors, “pay to play”, is common practice.
• Cronyism is practically accepted.
• Mob ties are not unusual [blog-edit: especially in waste management and construction].

- The Economist, Jul 24th 2009, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY

New Jersey is not Sweden. Covanta is HQ'ed in New Jersey. Which quite possibly has no influence whatsoever on the corporate culture, apart from sharp suits and haircuts. Covanta is not a gonzo outfit. As far as is known Covanta is a mighty fine corporate citizen. Except perhaps for Dioxins violations reported for all of its New Jersey waste incinerators and about 6,000 violations at Ogden and conflicts with employees and other legal concerns in Florida and a recent 'bankruptcy' issue and the odd explosion forcing people to run indoors.

Like Wall Street bankers also based in New Jersey, Covanta's CEO Tony Orlando is heavily bonus driven with recent official compensation of about $3 million.

US websites list the legal political donations made by Covanta staff to local politicians. In 2008 the Irish lawyer for the Poobeg Incinerator Promoters, 'Willem Schipkijk', had a legal fundraiser in his Dalkey house for at least one American Presidential candidate (Obama) in Dublin. Curious?

DCC's choice of operator for the proposed Poolbeg Incinerator is a Covanta entity legalised in the secret banking haven of Luxembourg. Curious?

In Ireland of course the secret contract DCC made with Covanta was not influenced by any form of "pay to play" nor cronyism nor the total dismissal of scientific facts and the public's interest in favour of secret political diktats. The secret contract may involve a "put or pay" contract which will burden the bankrupted taxpayers who are not killed prematurely by incinerator nanoparticles (PM0.1).

Bertie 'Won It On De Horses' Ahern can confirm this, even if it's actually true. So will the public servants now retiring on the world's highest pensions. These are honest men.

_____________
http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14112480

Poolbeg Incinerator "Rogue Employer"

The USA's National Labor Relations Board this week issued a comprehensive complaint charging Covanta Energy Corp. and all of its U.S. subsidiaries with violating federal labor law.

http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/07/01/covanta-complaint-shows-need-for-employee-free-choice-act/


AFL-CIO Local 369 President Gary Sullivan:

The board’s action confirms our first-hand experience that Covanta is a rogue employer with no respect for the rights of its employees.

Dublin City Council has a secret deal with Covanta to run the proposed Poolbeg Waste-to-Toxins incinerator. Possibly to dodge US courts the deal is with an offshore Covanta outfit - a special purpose entity firewalled in secretive Luxembourg (guess why).


_____________
The USA's National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1935 to administer the National Labor Relations Act, the primary law governing relations between unions and employers in the private sector.

Covanta - List of Subsidiaries

SCHEDULE 4-A

List of Subsidiaries

8309 Tujunga Avenue Corp.

AC LINES LLC

American Commercial Lines Holdings LLC

Burney Mountain Power

Capital Compost & Waste Reduction Services, LLC

Central Valley Biomass Holdings, LLC

Central Valley Fuels Management Inc.

Covanta Alexandria / Arlington, Inc.

Covanta ARC Company

Covanta ARC Holdings, LLC

Covanta ARC LLC

Covanta B-3, LLC

Covanta Babylon, Inc.

Covanta Berkshire Holdings, Inc.

Covanta Berkshire Operations, Inc.

Covanta Bessemer, Inc.

Covanta Biofuels, Inc.

Covanta Bristol, Inc.

Covanta Capital District II LLC

Covanta Capital District LLC

Covanta Capital District, L.P

Covanta Company of SEMASS, L.P.

---

Covanta Connecticut (S.E.), LLC

Covanta Delano, Inc.

Covanta Delaware Valley II, LLC

Covanta Delaware Valley LLC

Covanta Delaware Valley, L.P.

Covanta Development Company LLC

Covanta Energy Americas, Inc.

Covanta Energy Asia, Inc.

Covanta Energy Corporation

Covanta Energy Europe, Inc

Covanta Energy Group, Inc.

Covanta Energy Resource Corp.

Covanta Energy Services, Inc.

Covanta Engineering Services, Inc.

Covanta Essex Company

Covanta Essex II, LLC

Covanta Essex LLC

Covanta Fairfax, Inc.

Covanta Frederick/Carroll, Inc.

Covanta Funds Administration, Inc.

Covanta Hampton Roads LLC

Covanta Harford, Inc.

Covanta Harrisburg, Inc.

Covanta Haverhill Associates

---

Covanta Haverhill Properties, Inc.

Covanta Haverhill, Inc.

Covanta Hawaii Energy LLC

Covanta Hempstead Company

Covanta Hempstead II, LLC

Covanta Hempstead LLC

Covanta Hennepin Energy Resource Co., Limited Partnership

Covanta Hillsborough, Inc.

Covanta Holding Corporation

Covanta Honolulu Resource Recovery Venture

Covanta Huntington Limited Partnershiip

Covanta Huntington Resource Recovery One Corp.

Covanta Huntington Resource Recovery Seven Corp.

Covanta Huntsville, Inc.

Covanta Hydro Operations West, Inc.

Covanta Indianapolis, Inc.

Covanta Insurance Holdings Corporation

Covanta Kent, Inc.

Covanta Lake Holding Corp.

Covanta Lake II, Inc.

Covanta Lancaster, Inc.

Covanta Lee, Inc.

Covanta Long Island, Inc.

Covanta Maine, LLC

---

Covanta Marion Land Corp.

Covanta Marion, Inc.

Covanta Mendota Holdings, Inc.

Covanta Mendota, L.P.

Covanta Mid-Conn, Inc.

Covanta Montgomery, Inc.

Covanta Niagara II, LLC

Covanta Niagara LLC

Covanta Niagara, L.P.

Covanta Oahu Waste Energy Recovery, Inc.

Covanta Omega Lease, Inc.

Covanta Onondaga Five Corp.

Covanta Onondaga Four Corp.

Covanta Onondaga Limited Partnership

Covanta Onondaga Operations, Inc.

Covanta Onondaga Three Corp.

Covanta Onondaga Two Corp.

Covanta Onondaga, Inc.

Covanta Operations of SEMASS II, LLC

Covanta Operations of SEMASS LLC

Covanta Operations of Union LLC

Covanta OPW Associates, Inc.

Covanta OPWH, Inc.

Covanta Otay 3 Company

---

Covanta Pasco, Inc.

Covanta Pinellas, Inc.

Covanta Pittsfield, LLC

Covanta Power Development of Mauritius, Inc.

Covanta Power Development, Inc.

Covanta Power International Holdings, Inc.

Covanta Power Pacific, Inc.

Covanta Power Plant Operations

Covanta Projects of Hawaii, Inc.

Covanta Projects of Wallingford, L.P.

Covanta Projects, Inc.

Covanta Ref-Fuel Finance LLC

Covanta Ref-Fuel Holdings LLC

Covanta Ref-Fuel II LLC

Covanta Ref-Fuel LLC

Covanta Ref-Fuel Management II, LLC

Covanta Ref-Fuel Management LLC

Covanta Renewable Fuels LLC

Covanta Research & Technology, LLC

Covanta RRS Holdings, Inc.

Covanta SBR Associates

Covanta SECONN LLC

Covanta Secure Services, LLC

Covanta SEMASS II, LLC

---

Covanta SEMASS LLC

Covanta SEMASS, L.P.

Covanta Southeastern Connecticut Company

Covanta Southeastern Connecticut, L.P.

Covanta Springfield, LLC

Covanta Stanislaus, Inc.

Covanta Systems, LLC

Covanta Union, Inc.

Covanta Wallingford Associates, Inc.

Covanta Warren Energy Resource Co., Limited Partnership

Covanta Warren Holdings I, Inc.

Covanta Warren Holdings II, Inc.

Covanta Waste to Energy of Italy, Inc.

Covanta Waste to Energy, LLC

Covanta Water Holdings, Inc.

Covanta Water Systems, Inc.

Covanta WBH, LLC

Danielson Indemnity Company

Danielson Insurance Company

Danielson National Insurance Company

Danielson Reinsurance Corporation

DSS Environmental, Inc.

Generating Resource Recovery Partners L.P.

Haverhill Power, LLC

---

Koma Kulshan Associates L.P.

Kramer Capital Consultants, Inc.

LMI, Inc.

Michigan Waste Energy, Inc.

Mount Kisco Transfer Station, Inc.

MSW Energy Erie LLC

MSW Energy Finance Co. II, Inc.

MSW Energy Finance Co., Inc.

MSW Energy Holdings II LLC

MSW Energy Holdings LLC

MSW Energy Hudson LLC

MSW I Sub, LLC

Mt. Lassen Power

NAICC Insurance Services

National American Insurance Company of California

New Covanta Lake Holding LLC

OPI Quezon, LLC

Pacific Energy Operating Group, L.P.

Pacific Energy Resources Incorporated

Pacific Hydropower Company

Pacific Oroville Power, Inc.

Pacific Recovery Corporation

Pacific Wood Fuels Company

Pacific-Ultrapower Chinese Station

---

Peabody Monofill Associates, Inc.

Penstock Power Company

Recycling Industries Transfer Station, LLC

SEMASS Partnership

South Fork II Associates Limited Partnership

Thermendota, Inc.

TransRiver II, LLC

TransRiver LLC

TransRiver Canada Incorporated

TransRiver Marketing Company, L.P.

TransRiver Philadelphia LLC

TransRiver Portsmouth LLC

TransRiver Transfer Systems LLC

TransRiver Waste LLC

UAH Groveville Hydro Associates

UAH Management Corp

Valor Insurance Company, Incorporated

Ambiente 2000 S.R.L.

Bal-Sam India Holdings Limited

Chengdu Jiuniang Environmental Energy Co. Ltd.

Chongqing Sanfeng Covanta Environmental Industry Co., Ltd.

Covanta Bangladesh Operating Limited

Covanta Cayman (Rojana) Limited

Covanta Cayman (Sahacogen) Limited

---

Covanta Energy (Ireland) Limited

Covanta Energy (Thailand) Limited

Covanta Energy (UK) Limited

Covanta Energy Asia Holdings Limited

Covanta Energy Asia Pacific Limited

Covanta Energy China (Delta) Limited

Covanta Energy China (Gamma) Limited

Covanta Energy India (Balaji) Limited

Covanta Energy India (CBM) Limited

Covanta Energy India (Samalpatti) Limited

Covanta Energy India Private Limited

Covanta Energy International Investments Limited

Covanta Energy Limited

Covanta Energy Philippine Holdings, Inc.

Covanta Europe Engineering Limited

Covanta Europe Holdings S.a.r.l.

Covanta Europe Operations Limited

Covanta Five Limited

Covanta Four Limited

Covanta Holding Limited

Covanta India Operating Private Limited

Covanta Italy Holding, S.r.l.

Covanta Italy I S.r.l.

Covanta Italy II S.r.l.

---

Covanta Madurai Operating Private Limited

Covanta Mauritius O&M Ltd.

Covanta One Limited

Covanta Philippines Operating, Inc.

Covanta Samalpatti Operating Private Limited

Covanta Three Limited

Covanta Two Limited

Covanta Waste to Energy Asia Investments

Covanta Waste to Energy Asia Limited

Covanta Waste to Energy Asia Ltd

Dublin Waste to Energy (Holdings) Limited

Dublin Waste to Energy Limited

Edison (Bataan) Cogeneration Corporation

Enereruope Holdings III, B.V.

GOA Holdings Limited

Guangzhou Development Covanta Environmental Industry Co., Ltd.

Hidro Operaciones Don Pedro S.A.

Madurai Power Corporation Pvt. Ltd.

NEPC Consortium Power Ltd.

Ogden Energy (Gulf) Limited

Ogden Energy India (Bakreshwar) Limited

Ogden Power Development — Cayman, Inc.

Ogden Taiwan Investments Limited

OLMEC Insurance Ltd.

---

P.H. Don Pedro

P.H. Rio Volcan

Power Operations and Maintenance Limited

Prima S.r.l.

Quezon Power (Philippines) Limited

Quezon Power, Inc.

Samalpatti Power Company Private Limited

Taixing Covanta Yanjiang Cogeneration Company Limited

---

SCHEDULE 4-B

List of Significant Subsidiaries

Covanta ARC Holdings, LLC

Covanta ARC LLC

Covanta Energy Corporation

Covanta Essex Company

Covanta Essex LLC

Covanta Hempstead Company

Covanta Hempstead LLC

Covanta RRS Holdings, Inc.

Covanta SEMASS, L.P.

MSW Energy Hudson LLC

Quezon Power, Inc.

Covanta Power International Holdings, Inc.

http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/displayfilinginfo.aspx?FilingID=6624272-301748-466307&type=sect&dcn=0000950137-09-004066

Poolbeg Incinerator - What are Covanta, DCC, Dong, RPS, EPA and Others Hiding?

One Page Summary of Pollution is Withheld
The operators of the proposed waste-to-toxins factory in Dublin Bay do not publish a clear single A4 page summary of the pollution from their incinerator.


Pattern of Not Honestly Answering Questions
Each person you query cynically refers you to another entity in their firewalled organisation and to thousands of pages of a politically compiled "EIS", a perhaps deliberately obfuscated set of documentation. There appears to be a consistent pattern here across people and across entities of deferring the question to others who are never available. This repeated pattern by different people in different organisations is very curious.


Why Is There No Summary?
A clear single page summary could reassure the public and definitively answer concerns on dioxins, CO2, NOx, metallic microparticles, nanoparticles, secondary particulates and the vast range of other currently known pollutants. So why is a clear summary not widely circulated? Does the Tobacco Industry provide any clues?

The lack of a clear summary is a significant and very possibly a deliberate omission or withholding of pertinent and material information. It seems something significant is being hidden. As the promotors have spent at least €20,000,000 of your money on experts and PR there is no credible reason for this cynical decision.


Deliberate Confusion Tactics?
Proposing that Joe-Six-Pack takes hours to search through thousands of pages to find one line item on dioxins amongst highly atomic data and then calculates using nanograms per second to find the annual level of dioxins is less than honest. Such an organisational approach to public concerns is very consistent with the Big Lie methodology.


Does Ireland's Political EPA Protect The Public?
It's also unknown if the supplied numbers posing as "data" have been peer reviewed. Is the EIS "data" as inaccurate as the numbers supplied at the Bord Pleanala hearing? The spin is that the EPA or the glorious HSE will protect the public.

Ireland's EPA is politically compromised and can not be relied on to protect the public. Chromium-6 pollution in Cork harbour is a fine example where the EPA appear to have done nothing beyond issuing a piece of paper. One of the EPA's director's from that time is now employed by the waste-to-toxins industry to promote incineration in Ireland. The EPA and the industry claim there is no conflict of interest here - but perhaps they should read the confidential reports on Anglo-Irish Bank and the Dublin Developer's Autocracy (DDDA)


Gombeen Man Governance Damages Ireland
Anglo-Irish Bank has destroyed Ireland's global reputation for corporate governance by apparently & deliberately withholding pertinent and material information from investors. Recent Irish economic disasters have been caused by Ireland's culture of politically driven organisations run under the control of a small cohort of cross-contaminated, intelligent, managerally-inbred, selve-serving people who seem to specialise in compromised business ethics. They do nothing illegal of course and have developed their art far beyond brown envelopes.


Two Questions
The lack of an A4 summary of public information from a sophisticated organisation raises at least two questions. What are Covanta, Dong, RPS, the developer lead DCC, the politically directed EPA and the rest of the team trying to hide from the public? And why are they apparently following Tobacco Industry Best Practice?

Our Honest Experts Recommend Incinerators.

wastetoenergy, Waste-To-Toxins, The Big Lie, EPA, Covanta Violations Lawsuits Fines Threats, Anglo Irish Bank, Dublin Bay Incinerator, Poolbeg Incinerator, Deadly Particles (PM2.5),

EPA

EPA, Zell, Covanta Violations Lawsuits Fines Threats, Deadly Particles (PM2.5)

Covanta Fined Again Over Dioxins! (2008)

Covanta of New Jersey, contracted by Dublin City Council for the proposed Waste-To-Toxins incinerator at Poolbeg, has exceeded allowable emission rate for dioxins and furans at it's incinerator in Pittsfield by nearly 350%.

- Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.


September 2008

Head back to your rashers if you trust BIFFO and Ireland's utterly compromised EPA to protect you from Dioxins. By the way, it's Ireland's Environment Minister's Green Party who said EPA-Ireland is utterly compromised.

The dedicated and honest taxpayer-funded employees at Dublin City Council have a secret contract with Covanta for the proposed Waste-To-Toxins incinerator at Poolbeg. Covanta also apparently seeks to prevent its workers from educating the public about its waste-to-toxins incinerators. DCC's democratically-challenged apparatchiks are more flexible than communist American workers. Why? Revolving doors? Citizenship?

_________

In September 2008, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection cited Covanta Energy for illegal emissions of toxic air pollutants at two different waste incinerators the company operates in the state.

Dioxin

On September 26, 2008, the DEP issued an administrative consent order finding

• Covanta had exceeded the allowable emission rate for dioxins and furans at its incinerator in Pittsfield by nearly 350%,

according to stack tests conducted at the facility in November and December 2007.

The order also cited the Pittsfield facility for failing to report to the DEP other violations of its air quality permit occurring in January, February, and March 2008.

The DEP order fined Covanta $7,653.

• On the same day, the DEP issued a notice of noncompliance for toxic air emissions at Covanta’s Springfield facility in Agawam. (Where was Homer?).
  

The state cited two instances of excessive emissions of sulfur dioxide and one instance of excessive nitrogen oxides, all occurring during July 2008.

• The DEP also found that Covanta had illegally failed to report these excess emissions to the state.
  

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies dioxins and furans as probable human carcinogens. Long-term exposure has been linked to impairment of the immune system, the
developing nervous system, the endocrine system, and reproductive functions. Chronic exposure to sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides can cause respiratory disease and premature death, and can aggravate existing heart disease.

For more information concerning these events, please consider using Skype to contact Covanta at
+1-973/882-7277 (phone) or
+1-973/882-7276 (fax).

Poolbeg incinerator, covanta, dioxin

Does Covanta Have Something To Hide?

http://www.cjcw.org/notice/Covanta_Ireland_open_letter_10-08.pdf

Extracts from Open Letter to Members of Irish Trade Unions, Community Activists, and Public Officials Concerning Covanta Energy

In May 2008, employees at Covanta’s incinerator in Rochester, Massachusetts voted in a government supervised election for representation by our union. Since that election, management has frustrated meaningful bargaining by proposing numerous intolerable contract demands, including:

• A rule broadly forbidding employees from providing “information” about the Company to “media representatives, governmental officials or other person,” including any “external attorney” or “investigator,” without management’s prior approval.

• We believe these policies improperly coerce workers from speaking out against any concerns they may have about ... the company’s operations.

___________
Thank you for your support, and please contact us for more information about Covanta Energy.

Campaign for Justice for Covanta Workers × 120 Bay State Drive × Braintree, Mass., USA 02184 www.cjcw.org × info@cjcw.org × 781.848.3740 (ph) × 781.848.4108 (fx) × October 2008

________________________

Connolly Letter to Tony Orlando

Tony Orlando is not to be confused in any way with Tony Soprano, another New Jersey waste business operator.

poolbeg incinerator, waste-to-toxins, energy answers, covanta, big lie.

Covanta Fined for Toxic Nickel Emissions

This is Tony The Nano Rat.
Tony's Cancer Took Just Six Months to Develop.

________________

Image: A Public Service
· Campaign for Justice for Covanta Workers
· www.cjcw.org

October 20, 2008
Pennsylvania Fines Covanta $45,600 for Toxic Nickel Emissions.

In a “Consent Assessment of Civil Penalty” issued by the Department on October 20, 2008, Covanta admitted that its conduct violated the state Air Pollution Control Act and agreed to pay the fine.

Nickel compounds are known human carcinogens, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Noncancer effects of nickel compounds can include chronic bronchitis and reduced lung function in persons who have breathed high levels.


For more information concerning these events, please consider contacting Covanta at +1-973/882-7277 (ph.) or +1-973/882-7276 (fax).

Poolbeg incinerator, covanta, dioxin

Waste-To-Toxins Employee Of The Month

Employee Of The Month

Employee of the Month Tony Orlando, with Sam Zell.

The fines of a few thousand dollars paid by Covanta for Dioxin pollution are so derisory they don't even qualify as a normal business risk.

Sam Zell owns about $666 million in Covanta stock. Billionaire mogul Zell sold his massive residential and commercial real estate empire in 2007 for $39 billion, or $39,000,000,000. Zell's worker, CEO Tony Orlando, was paid just under three million dollars in the year after all Covanta incinerators in New Jersey were fined for dioxin pollution. Covanta has a secret contract to run the Poolbeg Waste-To-Toxins incinerator.

Honest 19th Century Solutions

Switch Your Bins To Panda

• Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council deployed 20 staff from its household waste collection unit last week in a bid to address a €10 million hole in the authority’s finances after the desertion of more than half (32,000) of its customer base in the 20 months up to October.
• Industry sources believe a recent High Court action taken by the waste companies Greenstar and Panda raises questions about the incinerator’s viability.
• Don't feed the worms at Dublin City Council.
  

__________________________________


Waste shortfall puts pressure on Poolbeg plan

07 December 2008

http://www.thepost.ie/post/text/story.asp?document_id=38107&category_name=&version=print

Penalties apply if Dun LaoghaireRathdown does not supply enough waste for the incinerator, write Niamh Connolly and John Burke.

One of the four councils expected to supply waste to the planned Poolbeg incinerator may fail to meet its commitment, raising questions over the viability of the waste-to-energy project.

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) mayor, Cllr Tom Joyce, told The Sunday Business Post that the local authority might incur penalties for failing to supply enough waste to the incinerator, which was last week granted a licence by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Dublin City Council signed a contract in September 2007 with the joint US/Danish consortium - Dublin Waste to Energy Ltd - to design, build, finance and operate the Poolbeg plant. Dublin City Council coordinates the Dublin waste strategy on behalf of the capital’s four local authorities.

The four councils have under taken to supply over 300,000 tonnes of waste to the incinerator annually, as part of the deal, which is a key element of the Dublin waste management strategy. But the amount of waste being collected by DLRCC has fallen dramatically since the agreement was signed.

The authority deployed 20 staff from its household waste collection unit last week in a bid to address a €10 million hole in the authority’s finances after the desertion of more than half (32,000) of its customer base in the 20 months up to October. DLRCC’s tonnage of ‘black bin’ waste fell from 65,000 to 18,000 in the period.

In a briefing to councillors in October, Dun Laoghaire council manager Owen Keegan said the authority was likely to review its continued participation in the capital’s waste plan, due to financial concerns. A spokesman for the council said last week that no such review was under way.

‘‘The amount of waste being collected by us is considerably less now that the amount we were originally supposed to contribute, and it’s lessening by the day,” Joyce said. ‘‘We will have to take a look at whether it is in our interest to remain in the Dublin waste plan,” the Fine Gael councillor said.

A key ‘put or pay’ clause in the September 2007 deal requires the councils to guarantee the waste annually, or make loss-of-profit payments to the consortium behind the Poolbeg incinerator.

Meanwhile, British-based waste incineration company Covanta said it was prepared to start construction on the €250 million Poolbeg plant early in the new year. [galwaytent edit: Covanta is not British based. Covanta is based in New Jersey; its Irish operations at Poolbeg and at Rathcoole are firewalled in the Virgin Islands and in Luxembourg]

The company said conditions attached to the licence issued by the EPA had not yet been calculated, but ‘‘will not make the plant financially unviable’’.

Covanta is now reading through the 200 conditions to work out the implications; a spokesman said work was due to start on the plant ‘‘during the first quarter of 2009’’.

‘‘On first read, Covanta is confident it can meet all these conditions. Like the EPA, it too wants to ensure the plant operates safely and legally. We also welcome the condition to liaise extensively with the local community,” the company said.

Asked about industry speculation that the plant could be unviable due to changing economic conditions and waste management practices, he said: ‘‘There is no question of scaling down, withdrawing or slowing down - there is no hesitation with the incinerator for Poolbeg.”

Nonetheless, industry sources believe a recent High Court action taken by the waste companies Greenstar and Panda raises questions about the incinerator’s viability.

Thetwo companies are challenging Dublin City Council’s attempts to ensure that collection is carried out by the council or a collector under the council’s control.

Dublin City Council said last week that it did not anticipate work on the incinerator would start until the second half of next year.

Fianna Fail backs the incinerator, but Green Party deputy Ciaran Cuffe criticised the move by council officials to sign the contract. He accused them of pre-empting a decision on the Poolbeg incinerator by making financial commitments before approval for the plant had been granted.

The 600,000-tonne incinerator needs waste from the four regional authorities, Dublin City Council, South Dublin Council, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and Fingal, to ensure cost efficiency. Panda, which operates in the east from Dundalk to Dun Laoghaire, has just signed a contract to build the largest recycling facility in Ireland, in a move that raises further questions about the capacity of the incinerator.

The €3.25 million warehouse at Beauparc, Co Meath, would increase Panda’s ability to achieve up to 90 per cent recycling of all the waste it handles, according to the company’s general manager, Brian McCabe.

Minister for the Environment John Gormley came under fire last week over his failure to take action to prevent the incinerator in his own Dublin South East constituency.

The controversy could damage Gormley’s electoral prospects next time around, on the basis that he has opposed the project for the past ten years, but stands accused of being ‘‘ineffectual’’ in government.

Gormley was one of more than 2,000 individuals and environmental groups that lodged objections to the incinerator with An Bord Pleanala in October.

While Gormley insists that his ministerial powers do not allow him to interfere with the process, the Labour Party’s Ruairi Quinn said the minister had been told last summer that it was legally possible to seek a review by Dublin City Council of its waste management plan.

The Labour Party wants to pursue a judicial review of the plan.

Quinn said Labour’s legal counsel, Finbarr O’Malley, had advised that the Waste Management Act, 1996, section 24c, allowed the minister to intervene using this mechanism.

Such a review would reveal that the capacity of the incinerator ‘‘was excessive, because the evidence pointed in the direction that there would be less to incinerate than the amount and the scale of the plant in Ringsend [would allow],” said Quinn.

Gormley last week warned Dublin City Council that it would be ‘‘unwise’’ to proceed with the project, and he is taking policy steps to ensure that the incinerator is not economically viable by promoting mechanical and biological waste treatment and imposing levies on landfill and incineration.

Despite the speculation, a statement from DLRCC said: ‘‘Given the fact that Dun LaoghaireRathdown is part of the regional waste management strategy, the direct answer is that we will cooperate with our partners in Dublin City, South Dublin and Fingal County Council, as agreed, on all matters related to waste management.”

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© Thomas Crosbie Media, 2008

Covanta Violations Lawsuits Fines Threats, Dublin Bay Incinerator, Poolbeg Incinerator, Money, Panda,

EPA: Anne Butler

The incineration industry in the USA and in Ireland, including Covanta (USA, Poolbeg-Luxembourg & Rathcoole-Virgin-Islands), has hired former senior US and Irish EPA employees, so it’s quite possible both the US EPA and the Irish EPA are compromised.

There is a possibility that EPA-Ireland is totally honest and is not utterly compromised as stated by the Green Party of Ireland's Environment Minister. It is also possible the revolving doors at director level between EPA-Ireland, the IBEC Lobby, Indaver, Covanta-Poolbeg, Covanta/Energy Answers and “Independent Consultants” have no effect whatsoever.

___________________________________

"By law the EPA must protect our families from dangerous chemicals," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the Senate committee's chairman. "Instead, they're protecting the chemical companies."

EPA: 6,000 violations at Covanta Incinerator in 2 Years

OGDEN MARTIN

(aka Covanta)

is cited by the EPA with over 6,000 permit violations at its 2,300 tons/day municipal waste incinerator in Indianapolis,Indiana.

Start-Up Date: November 1988
Permit violations: June 1989 to May 1991
Owner & Operator: Ogden Martin Systems of Indianapolis
Pollution Controls: Dry Scrubbers, Baghouse
Boiler Manufacturer: Riley Stoker
Builder: J.A. Jones Construction Company
Air Pollution Controls: Environmental Elements Corporation

EPA counted a total of 6,000 violations of Ogden Martin’s incinerator permit limits during a 2 year period from 1989 to 1991 at Ogden’s incinerator in Indianapolis.

Among the violations: Ogden Martin bypassed their pollution controls - scrubbers and baghouse - 18 to 20 times. Ogden’s incinerator had 27 boiler tube failures within one year.

According to an interview with Jeff Stant, the Executive Director of the Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC), the US EPA, the State of Indiana, the City of Indianapolis and HEC, are all currently involved in an official capacity in an enforcement action which is aimed at Ogden Martin’s poorly operated Indianapolis incinerator.

http://www.americanhealthstudies.org/wastenot/wn209.htm

Covanta, Florida: A Decade of Lawsuits.

Covanta, Florida: A Decade of Lawsuits. Recycling Undermined.

In Lake County, Florida, an incinerator contract with Covanta in 1991 has caused more than a decade of acrimony, lawsuits and political fallout.

In late 2000, Lake County, Florida commenced a lawsuit in Florida state court against Covanta-Lake, Inc. relating to the waste to energy facility operated by Covanta in Lake County, Florida.

In the lawsuit, the County sought to have its service agreement with Covanta-Lake declared void and in violation of the Florida Constitution.

• That lawsuit was stayed by the commencement of the (Bankruptcy) Chapter 11 Cases.
• Lake County subsequently filed a proof of claim seeking in excess of $80 million from Covanta-Lake and Covanta.

More at SEC website, 10-Q Filing: http://sec.edgar-online.com/2003/11/14/0000903423-03-000954/Section15.asp

http://www.multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1993/08/mm0893_09.html
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Paying for pollution

Along with the environmental and health risks associated with incineration, taxpayers are forced to bear the considerable financial costs involved in building and operating Ogden facilities. The case of Lake County, Florida offers a dramatic example of the financial toll Ogden can exact from a community. The county's original 1984 incineration proposal called for General Electric (GE) to design, finance, build and operate a facility, at no cost to the community.

By the time construction began in 1990, however,

• GE had pulled out of the deal,
  
• Ogden was the builder, operator and owner of the incinerator and
  
• construction costs had risen to $79 million.
  
• In addition, the county is paying the plant's property taxes.

County Commissioner Richard Swartz says, "We went straight from a situation where Lake County had no financial obligation - zero, none - to a situation where Lake County ended up paying not only for the $79 million in construction costs, but to a total obligation for debt service and operating costs of nearly $300 million over the 22-year life of the Ogden contract."

Like many communities that have negotiated with Ogden, Lake County locked itself into a "put-or-pay" contract, which forces the county to provide the incinerator with a required tonnage of garbage, or else be charged a penalty. The county is also responsible for disposal of the incinerator ash.

• Swartz says the Ogden contract has undermined the positive economic and environmental effects of the county's recycling program.

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The city of Tulsa, Okla., had to divert its trash to a landfill in 2003 when Covanta briefly closed its incinerator there, citing financial problems.



.

2006: Covanta Repeatedly Fined for Dioxin Releases, Other Toxins

October 9, 2006

In New Jersey, the Covanta company has been REPEATEDLY fined for releasing excessive amounts of dioxin and other toxic emissions from its Essex County plant.

In the past year, New Jersey regulators have ordered Covanta to pay more than $112,000 in fines for violations at ALL three of its waste-to-energy plants in the state.

The Rutgers Environmental Law Center at Rutgers University in New Jersey has filed a notice of its intent to sue Covanta over repeated Clean Air Act violations at the Essex plant, the state's largest garbage incinerator.
---------
By SCOTT HARPER and tim mcglone
The Virginian-Pilot
http://hamptonroads.com/node/165361

Dodge City: Covanta Violations Just Before Bankruptcy. Court Order Required to Enforce Environment Standards.

ENFORCEMENT ACTION ORDER BY CONSENT ISSUED TO
Covanta Alexandria / Arlington, Inc

11. ... Termination of this Order, or any obligation imposed in this Order, shall not operate to relieve Covanta from its obligation to comply with any statute, regulation, permit condition, other order, certificate, certification, standard, or requirement otherwise applicable.
--------------------

SECTION D: Agreement and Order

... In addition, the Board hereby enters an order imposing upon Covanta Alexandria / Arlington, Inc., a civil charge of Fourteen Thousand Six Hundred Ninety Five Dollars ($14,695.00), the payment of which shall be subject to the terms and conditions of Covanta's confirmed plan of reorganization.

---------------------------
6. On January 3, 2002 at 0950 hrs. EST, Mr. George Ball-Llovera contacted NVRO to report a malfunction that resulted in a 4-hour exceedance of the carbon monoxide limit set forth in the air permit.

During that call Mr. Ball-Llovera was informed that Covanta needed to provide quarterly EER’s for the facility in addition to the Annual and Semi-Annual reports. Mr. Ball-Llovera indicated that he would provide the required documents. At 1440 hrs. EST, Mr. Ball-Llovera again contacted NVRO personnel to say that by January 31, 2002 the Annual Report and the 4th Quarter EER would be provided to NVRO and that the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Quarter 2001 EER’s would be provided soon after.
...
...
12. On February 25, 2002 Mr. George Ball-Llovera hand delivered the 3rd quarter 2001 EER for Covanta to the NVRO.

13. On April 1, 2002 Covanta filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. (“Bankruptcy Court”)

Covanta Threatened Canadian Doctors Against Incinerator?

A committee consisting of Orillia's 54 doctors generated a report, based on extensive research of published health data, that recommended a rejection of the incinerator proposal: 52 (and later, 53) of the doctors endorsed the report.

Dr. Don Philpott, a member of the committee, noted that: "People can be bamboozled into thinking that acceptable risk means no additional risk, but that is just not true..."

In retaliation for the call to reject the incinerator's installation, Ogden Martin threatened to sue the doctors of Orillia for defamation.

The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) passed a resolution in support of the Orillia doctors, after which the threat of litigation was dropped.

The Ontarion Ministry of Environment under the NDP government banned the development of new municipal solid waste incinerators and enacted stricter standards for existing incinerators. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orillia,_Ontario]

In 1992 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cited Ogden Martin (now Covanta) for 6,000 violations between 1989 and 1991 at its Indianapolis incinerator alone.

OGDEN MARTIN

is cited by the EPA with over 6,000 permit violations at its 2,300 tpd municipal waste incinerator in Indianapolis,Indiana.

Start-Up Date: November 1988
Permit violations: June 1989 to May 1991
Owner & Operator: Ogden Martin Systems of Indianapolis
Pollution Controls: Dry Scrubbers, Baghouse
Boiler Manufacturer: Riley Stoker
Builder: J.A. Jones Construction Company
Air Pollution Controls: Environmental Elements Corporation

EPA counted a total of 6,000 violations of Ogden Martin’s incinerator permit limits during a 2 year period from 1989 to 1991 at Ogden’s incinerator in Indianapolis. Among the violations: Ogden Martin bypassed their pollution controls - scrubbers and baghouse - 18 to 20 times. Ogden’s incinerator had 27 boiler tube failures within one year. According to an interview with Jeff Stant, the Executive Director of the Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC), the US EPA, the State of Indiana, the City of Indianapolis and HEC, are all currently involved in an official capacity in an enforcement action which is aimed at Ogden Martin’s poorly operated Indianapolis incinerator. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orillia,_Ontario , http://www.americanhealthstudies.org/wastenot/wn209.htm]

==============

Covanta Energy Corporation was formerly known as Ogden Martin.
CHWMEG Report Number: H482.2
http://www.chwmeg.org/asp/search/detail.asp?ID=466
http://www.secinfo.com/d2851.bd.5.htm
http://www.secinfo.com/dsvr4.138e.htm#7psh

Covanta Bankruptcy: On December 2, 2003, DHC executed a definitive investment and purchase agreement to
acquire the energy and water businesses of Covanta in connection with Covanta's emergence from Chapter 11
proceedings in bankruptcy
http://www.secinfo.com/dsvr4.138e.htm#1stPage