The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, Martinez, California, has passed a “Safe Drug Disposal Ordinance” requiring medication manufacturers to create a stewardship organization that will offer drop-off locations throughout unincorporated areas of the county for the disposal of unwanted, expired and unused medications. The ordinance cites pharmacies and hospitals as examples of convenient locations.

 

This is the eighth safe drug disposal ordinance adopted in the San Francisco Bay Area and the 13th in the nation, according to the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District (Central San), which advocated for the ordinance. Wastewater agencies have been among those collaborating on safe drug disposal ordinances because clean water advocates say proper disposal of medications means cleaner waterways for fish and wildlife and protects the quality of drinking water.

 

“It’s our job to be strong stewards for the environment,” says Roger Bailey, general manager of Martinez-based Central San, which operates 13 customer-funded medication drop-off bins in Contra Costa County. “This ordinance helps better protect public health and the environment,” he adds.

 

Central San and six regional wastewater agencies all provided support for the ordinance. Suicide prevention and drug overdose prevention advocates also supported the ordinance, says the board. “The majority of those who abuse medications obtain them from friends and family and often right from their home medicine cabinets,” says April Rovero, executive director of the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse. “The ordinance will require more medication disposal bins and increase community education, both important steps in reducing access to potentially dangerous and addictive medications in Contra Costa County.”

 

Among the key elements of the ordinance, according to Central San, are:

 

• Medication manufacturers are responsible for working toward a solution to reduce medications entering local waterways.
• New drop-off bins will accept all medications, including over-the-counter drugs.
• Medication manufacturers are subject to penalties if they fail to comply with the ordinance.  

 

Since 2012, outgoing Contra Costa County Supervisor Mary Piepho has led the charge for an ordinance for the county. Says Central San. “Thanks to the leadership of Supervisor Mary Piepho and all the members of the board, the pharmaceutical industry will provide county residents with safe and convenient disposal options in pharmacies and hospitals like they now do in six other Bay Area counties,” says Heidi Sanborn, executive director of the California Product Stewardship Council.

 

County supervisors adopted the ordinance at Supervisor Piepho’s final official meeting, in December 2016, just before incoming District III Supervisor Diane Burgis assumes the post.

EMR Eastern LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of EMR (USA Holdings) Inc., has formally submitted a request to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) for financial assistance to undertake a fairly significant expansion project in Camden, New Jersey.

The assistance for the project will come from New Jersey’s Grow New Jersey Assistance (Grow NJ) Program, which is available to businesses creating or retaining jobs in New Jersey and making a qualified capital investment at a qualified business facility in a qualified incentive area.

According to a report by the NJEDA, EMR Eastern LLC is looking to erect two new buildings and occupy 10 existing buildings in Camden, for a total of 715,000 square feet. The company initially had considered constructing seven new buildings and taking over seven existing buildings, including a waste-to-energy facility.

According to the New Jersey EDA, EMR Eastern LLC’s recent submission excluded the construction of the WTE facility. That facility was estimated to cost $166 million and take up about 103,000 square feet.

The decision to scale back the expansion plan has resulted in a 41 percent reduction in capital investment from its initial $253 million to $147 million. Because of the reduction, and because this is a Camden Alternative project with an award set by the amount of capital investment, a corresponding reduction in the Grow NJ award from $253 million to $149 million. There will be no overall reduction in the number of originally projected new jobs (285) or retained jobs (62), totaling 347.

Board action is required because the existing delegated authority to modify a Qualified Business Facility (QBF) does not encompass the proposed changes and the 41 percent reduction in capital investment exceeds the 25 percent staff delegation to approve such a change.

Last September members of the NJEDA approved a $253 million 10-year Grow NJ tax credit to incent the creation of 285 new jobs and the retention of 62 jobs in Camden. The project is a Camden Alternative Project, which receives a per-employee tax credit obtained by dividing the eligible capital investment contributed to the project by the number of Grow employees.

However, following discussions the company had with the city and utility providers, it decided to table the construction of the waste-to-energy facility. During the discussion, EMR learned that the required utilities to support the facility would not be available in tome for the company to build the facility and certify its costs within the four-year period from approval time of the Grow award.

Following the decision to rescind the WTE plant, EMR says it plans to expanding its remaining QBF, which will provide the jobs that would have gone to operating the WTE. The location will serve as an auto recovery staging area.

Secondly, EMR will be building a 267,000-square-foot facility that will serve as the headquarters of its U.S. operations and provide additional warehouse space, as opposed to the 25,000-square-foot building that was original proposed. Third, because EMR has experienced organic growth in its scrap handling business since approval of the Grow project, the company is seeking approval to add 42,400 square feet of additional leased industrial warehouse space. This space will be used to continue EMR’s metals recovery activities performed on the main campus. The company estimates that 25 new jobs and $3 million of capital investment are planned for the expanded site.

The expansion request is consistent with the Sept. 9, 2016, board-approved policy as it has the same characteristics as the original approved QBF as they are industrial buildings and would have been considered as part of the complex of buildings if it had been contemplated at the original approval, is within the same municipality, is directly related to business growth and the company’s proposed eligible capital investment is sufficient to meet the increased minimum capital investment eligibility requirement.

Multiple calls to EMR Eastern LLC were not returned.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Northern District of Illinois, has announced the arrest of Brian Brundage, the former owner of Intercon Solutions Inc. and the current owner of EnviroGreen Processing LLC over allegations that he operated a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme involving the illegal landfilling or reselling of potentially hazardous electronic scrap.

According to an 11-count indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Brundage, through both companies, caused thousands of tons of electronic scrap and other potentially hazardous materials to be landfilled, resold to customers that shipped the materials overseas or stockpiled in his facilities. The indictment claims that Brundage fraudulently misrepresented to customers that the materials had been disassembled and recycled in an environmentally sound manner.

The indictment was returned earlier in December and ordered unsealed after Brundage's arrest Dec. 19.

The indictment against Brundage includes five counts of income tax evasion, four counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud. He is scheduled to make an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Weisman in Chicago.

The indictment seeks forfeiture of $10 million in cash.

According to the indictment, several private companies and governmental entities hired Chicago Heights-based Intercon and Gary, Indiana-based EnviroGreen for the disassembly, recycling or destruction of electronic scrap and other materials. The customer agreements stipulated that Intercon and EnviroGreen would handle all materials in an environmentally sound manner, without landfilling or exporting and without reselling the materials in whole form. Intercon specifically represented that it engaged in “absolutely no reselling, no remarketing, no landfilling, no incineration and no exportation,” the indictment states.

Unbeknownst to customers, according to the DOJ, for more than a decade, Intercon and EnviroGreen knowingly sold the electronic scrap and other materials, including potentially hazardous glass and batteries, to vendors whom Brundage knew would ship the materials overseas. Some of the materials contained cathode ray tubes (CRT), which contain potentially hazardous amounts of lead, according to the indictment. 

The indictment further alleges that Brundage caused multiple tons of CRT glass and other potentially hazardous materials to be destroyed in environmentally unsafe ways and later landfilled, all in direct contravention to Intercon’s public representations regarding its recycling practices.

At one point in 2011, Intercon was publicly accused of shipping potentially hazardous materials to Hong Kong. In response, Brundage began a fraudulent effort to publicly deny and conceal Intercon’s involvement in the shipment, the indictment states. Brundage destroyed business records related to the shipment and made efforts to conceal other overseas shipments of large quantities of e-scrap, according to the indictment. The fraud scheme continued for another five years.

The tax charges relate to Brundage’s efforts to evade paying thousands of dollars in income taxes during the scheme, according to the indictment. 

Each count of income tax evasion is punishable by up to five years in prison. The wire fraud and mail fraud counts each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years. 

To view the indictment, click here. 

The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) has announced a Jan. 13, 2017, deadline for its annual awards for Driver of the Year and Hall of Fame honors. The Washington-based association also has introduced an Operator of the Year award, the first industrywide honor for postcollection heavy-equipment operators. 

The Women’s Council Scholarship deadline is March 1, 2017. 

“We hope this change will give you the time you need to put forth your best and brightest in pursuit of these three highly sought after honors,” NWRA says in a news release. 

The association continues, “We have also streamlined the Driver of the Year application to make it easier for you to submit your best drivers. We are currently recruiting independent judges from outside of the industry to assist with evaluating the Driver of the Year and Operator of the Year finalists. If you are not familiar with the selection process, finalists are selected using our computerized scoring system.”

All award winners will be recognized at NWRA’s Awards Breakfast May 9, 2017, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at WasteExpo 2017, scheduled for May 8-11, 2017, in New Orleans. 

Driver of the Year
 
Each year, NWRA awards the safest drivers in the industry. More than 900 drivers were nominated for the honor in 2016. NWRA says it has streamlined its application process to make it easier to nominate companies’ most qualified workers. For the 2017 awards, there are nine different categories. Driver of the Year winners receive a leather jacket, a plaque and a $1,000 prize. All nominees receive a certificate of achievement. 

Operator of the Year
 
For the first time, NWRA will honor the safest, most industrious postcollection worker from either a material recovery facility (MRF), landfill or transfer station. Operators should use heavy equipment such as bulldozers, front-end loaders, compactors, etc. Operator of the Year winners receive a leather jacket, a plaque and a $1,000 prize. All nominees receive a certificate of achievement. 

Hall of Fame
 
NWRA’s Hall of Fame Award is presented annually to select industry visionaries and icons who have created an enduring legacy through their inspirational leadership, core values and significant contributions. The 2017 inductees will join 187 inductees from 1986-2016 who helped guide, build and transform the industry into what it is today.

For more information, contact Spencer Brignac by phone at 202-364-3709 or by email at sbrignac@wasterecycling.org.