American Ecology Sells Tenn. Assets to Toxco

Stephen Romano, president and CEO of American Ecology Corp. announced that the company completed the sale of principally all of the assets of its discontinued low-level radioactive waste processing facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. to Toxco Inc., Anaheim, Calif.

“This transaction concludes a successful 2 and ½ year effort by American Ecology to exit this and other non-core businesses, allowing us to focus on our core hazardous and radioactive waste treatment and disposal business,” Romano said, continuing “The 16 acre, State-licensed Oak Ridge facility provides Toxco with an excellent location and the infrastructure to expand their existing business.”

Under the terms of the transaction, Toxco received all of the facility’s land, buildings, equipment and licenses, plus $1.65 million in cash in exchange for assuming all environmental obligations, including the costs for future closure and decommissioning of the facility at the end of its operational life.

American Ecology acquired the Oak Ridge low-level radioactive waste processing facility in 1994 and operated the business through subsidiary American Ecology Recycle Center Inc. Commercial operations were discontinued in December 2002, followed by reductions in the facility’s labor force. All customer waste was removed from the facility by July, 2003.

Toxco is a diversified battery recycling company.