Global Waste Recycling is in the Rhode Island Superior Court over its failure to complete the cleanup of solid waste from its facility in Coventry, R.I. The company earlier had approved a plan worked out with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to have the material removed from the closed facility by June 30, 2002. However, the company, claiming financial hardship has not been able to complete the removal of the material.
The company has gone to court, Jan. 9, and is appealing for more time to clean up the site. There are an estimated 90,000 tons of industrial waste left to move, according to Gregory Benik, an attorney for Global, which is now defunct.
A spokeswoman for the RI DEM, however, says that the company has made no progress with the cleanup, despite an agreement worked out last year whereby Global would remove 15,000 tons of waste every three months.
The Global Waste Recycling facility accepted construction and demolition debris at the site over a number of years. Although Global had been processing the raw material, stockpiles of the residuals increased over the years in violation of state statutes and regulations governing solid waste.
In December of 1999, DEM denied Global a license to operate. In August of 2000, the Superior Court ordered Global to stop accepting any new material, and in November of that year, the Court ordered the facility to close completely.