Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc. (GBB), Fairfax, Va., is continuing its evaluation of development options for the City of Cleveland Recycling and Energy Generation (CREG) Center. Cleveland hired GBB to review options for the CREG Center project, which seeks to better manage the city’s municipal solid waste and potentially use waste as a source for locally produced energy. 

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Washington Department of Ecology have responded to a report that a barge loaded with auto hulks was listing in Commencement Bay near Tacoma, Wash., on Feb. 24.

According to a Coast Guard release, the USCG Sector Puget Sound received a report at about 1:15 p.m. on Feb. 24 stating a 750-foot Amix Marine Services barge, from Canada, anchored in Commencement Bay was listing and possibly taking on water.

Schnitzer Steel hired Global Salvage and Diving to inspect the barge’s hull. Divers located a crack in the hull and were successful in making repairs and stabilizing the barge. Canadian company Amix Marine Services, which owns the barge, has retained Global for further work as needed. The items on the barge are owned by Schnitzer Steel.

Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound launched a 25-foot response boat crew from Station Seattle to investigate, while Ecology dispatched spill responders to the area. The Coast Guard boat arrived on scene with a Tacoma Fire Department boat to find the barge, which had stacks of crushed cars on it, to be listing. An undetermined number of cars fell into the water, causing oil sheen. The barge reportedly contains no pollutants and the crushed cars were reportedly drained of all fluids prior to being crushed and loaded. Even though the cars have been drained of fluids, residual amounts of oil are present in the vehicles.

The Coast Guard established a 250-yard safety zone around the barge. A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Port Angeles conducted an overflight just before nightfall and reported a light sheen in the vicinity of the barge. The barge has been anchored between 300 feet to 500 feet off the port of Tacoma.

A spokesman for the USCG says they are checking out the barge to ensure the damage has been properly repaired. “If we can confirm the problem has been fixed we will move it to Schnitzer,” the spokesman says.

The Coast Guard and Washington Department of Ecology will continue to work with the Canadian barge owner and contractors to mitigate any pollution threats or navigational hazards associated with the barge.

ReCommunity Recycling, a Charlotte, N.C.-based recycling firm, has appointed James Devlin its new CEO, effective March 4. Devlin has extensive experience in the waste management industry, including his previous experience as CEO of Thermo Fluids Inc., a company involved in the waste oil collection and processing sector. He will focus on developing and implementing ReCommunity’s strategy to broaden its reach within existing markets, enter into new geographic markets and expand its product offerings.

“We’re very excited about attracting an executive of James’ caliber who has a proven track record of growing the businesses he leads. His significant relevant experience and knowledge of the recycling and recovery sector will be particularly valuable,” says Craig Cogut, chairman of ReCommunity’s board of directors and managing partner at Pegasus Capital Advisors, a private equity firm that is one of the financial backers of ReCommunity. “The board also appreciates the efforts by all during this transition period, and we have full confidence in the partnership that James has already forged with the entire senior management team as we look to accelerate the geographic growth of ReCommunity as well as continue to expand our waste recovery and conversion technologies.”

“It is rare that you are asked to head a company that is already a leader in its industry and has a strong management team with established deep relationships with municipalities, and I truly appreciate this unique opportunity,” says Devlin in a release. “There is power in ReCommunity’s ability to reposition waste as a strategic community resource instead of a growing liability while moving toward a zero-waste society. Some of our municipal partners are already generating additional revenue, recovering community-owned resources, creating new jobs, funding budget shortfalls and reducing their carbon footprint.”

Wausau Paper, headquartered in Mosinee, Wis., has announced plans to close its technical specialty paper mill in Brainerd, Minn., by the second quarter of 2013.

In an announcement, Wausau says the decision to close the mill is part of the company’s earlier announcement it was repositioning its operations to focus on the tissue business. The company says that while a range of alternatives for the divestiture of the technical specialty business have been explored, it has become clear the mill will not contribute to those alternatives and the closure will significantly improve the continuing paper segment operating results.

Hank Newell, president and CEO, commented on the closure, "A number of factors, including our accelerated exit from the print business, protracted global economic weakness and recent competitive paper capacity additions in Asia have impacted the viability of the Brainerd operations and created operational losses from the mill that were unsustainable,” says Hank Newell, president and CEO of Wausau.