Today's Top Stories          EnviroBusiness News         Enviro-Events Calendar        Free Trial     Home Page

EnviroPolitics Free, 30-day Trial Subscription  
A daily compendium of environmental and political news and information        

TerraCycle sets a recycling milestone Philadelphia's Wissahickon Charter School -- which has
an environmental education focus -- became the 2,000th school to join the TerraCycle "bottle brigade."
Trenton, NJ-based TerraCycle relies on recycled plastic bottles donated by schools to package liquid
plant food made from worm poop. Star-Ledger 3/27/07
Rising energy rates help PSEG lift profit outlook Public Service Enterprise Group expects
to have a lot of cash to work with the next few years Star-Ledger 3/27/07

PPL names new president of domestic delivery company PPL Corporation announced
today that David G. DeCampli has been named president of PPL Electric Utilities, its Pennsylvania
electricity delivery company. DeCampli, a 27-year industry veteran who has served as PPL Electric
Utilities senior vice president of Transmission and Distribution Engineering and Operations since
ate 2006, replaces John Sipics, who retired earlier this year. PPL 3/27/07

PSEG Global to explore sale of hydro-electric company in Peru PSEG Global today
announced that it is exploring a potential sale of Electroandes, a hydro-electric generation and
transmission company in Peru.  PSEG Global, which owns 100 percent of Electroandes, also
announced that it has engaged JP Morgan to determine interest in the asset and to act as an
advisor if PSEG determined that the sale of the company was prudent. PSEG   3/22/07

Rohm and Haas considering acrylic acid plant project in India Philadelphia-based
Rohm and Haas Co. and India's largest private company have agreed to explore joint construction
of an acrylic acid plant in India. The plant for Rohm and Haas and Reliance Industries Ltd. would
be located in Jamnagar. Philadelphia Business Journal 3/22/07

Kennametal to acquire advanced materials business Kennametal Inc. said today it has
signed a definitive agreement to acquire Purity Metal Holdings Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary,
International Specialty Alloys Inc. No financial terms were disclosed in a news release from
Latrobe, PA-based Kennametal (NYSE:KMT). The company expects the deal to close next month.
ISA, based in New Castle, PA, manufactures high-purity specialty metal products for the aerospace,
defense and super alloy industries, as well as a number of other industries that use advanced metal
coatings. Pittsburgh Business Times 3/22/07

Propane man puts plenty of energy into safety work William Curcio has been re-elected
chairman of the New Jersey Liquefied Petroleum Gas Education and Safety Board, which is also
known as the "LP Gas Board." The board -- which is comprised of professionals from varied areas
including fire safety, consumer affairs and environmental protection -- adopts rules affecting the
storage, handling and distribution of liquefied petroleum gas. Curcio has also been the recipient
of numerous awards and honors for his work in the energy industry, which spans some 25 years.
He grew up in Pen Argyl, PA, and has lived in Sparta, NJ for 34 years Star-Ledger 3/22/07

Ex-NY transportation commissioner to head Latham subsurface imaging company
The former commissioner of the New York state Department of Transportation has been hired as
the president of a Latham engineering company's new affiliate. Thomas Madison will be president
of Spectra Subsurface Imaging LLC, which was formed last year by Spectra Environmental Group Inc.
Spectra Subsurface uses radar and electromagnetic technology to map pipes, sewer lines, and other
objects without having to break ground. Spectra, which has 80 employees, also has offices in
Syracuse and Poughkeepsie. The (Albany) Business Review 3/20/07

Hill International receives contract for 73-story tower in Qatar The Marlton, NJ-based
construction consulting firm, today said that it has received a contract from Tanmiyat Real Estate
Co. to provide project management services during the construction of Bin Samikh Tower in Doha,
Qatar. The two-year contract has an estimated value of approximately $2.5 million. The 73-story
skyscraper will feature 240 five-star hotel suites and 170 residential apartments. Construction will
begin in April 2007 with an estimated completion date of April 2009. The total project value is
estimated at $137M njbiz.com 3/19/07

PSEG names Anne Hoskins as Vice President - Federal Affairs and Policy Public
Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) today announced the election of Anne E. Hoskins as vice
president – federal affairs and policy, effective April 5, 2007, within one of its subsidiaries, PSEG
Services Corporation. Hoskins will be responsible for PSEG’s federal governmental affairs and
will have a leadership role in the development of public policy positions on issues affecting the
company and its operations in the United States and various foreign countries. PSEG 3/14/07  

Sims Group acquires more E-Scrap operations Australia-based Sims Group, with operations
in Jersey City, NJ, has announced the execution of a purchase agreement to acquire the end-of-life
recycling assets of three Xstrata Copper Canada’s e-scrap recycling business. The facilities are
located in Roseville, Calif.; Lavergne, Tenn., and Brampton, Ontario. The acquisition is the second
recent acquisition of e-scrap recycling facilities by Sims Group in North America. The company
also acquired Chicago-based United Recycling Industries. That deal closed this week. URI provides
a full range of recycling services, including collection, refurbishment and resale of equipment; chip
recovery for re-sale; mechanical processing of monitors, mechanical recycling of e-waste and smelting
and refining of high grade electronic material. Recycling Today  3/14/07

Gerdau inks deal with union Gerdau Ameristeel Corp., which operates plants in Sayreville and
Perth Amboy NJ and in Milton and York, PA, has reached agreements with the United Steelworkers
at its steel mills in Beaumont, Texas; St. Paul, Minn.; and Wilton, Iowa. The contracts are effective
this month, and run through March 2010, July 2010 and September 2010, respectively. Negotiations
continue at the company's steel mills in Calvert City Kentucky; Joliet, Illinois; Sand Springs,
Oklahoma; and Whitby, Canada. Recycling Today 3/14/07

                  Send your business or organization news to:   

                  envirobusinessnews@enviropolitics.com        

Schering makes bid to acquire Dutch firm Schering-Plough said yesterday it plans to buy the
Dutch pharmaceutical company Organon BioSciences for $14.4B, a deal that restocks a weak lineup
of potential new drugs and answers nagging questions about the Jersey company's immediate future.
For four years, the talk of the industry has been when Schering's chief executive Fred Hassan would
make a bold move to revive the fortunes of Schering-Plough, the Kenilworth, NJ drug maker that has
seen more than its share of scandal and missteps. Now he has made his bet, and his reputation as a
turnaround artist hangs in the balance. Star-Ledger 3/13/07

CRI to re-grant $1M in Raritan-Piedmont area Conservation Resources Inc. was recently
awarded a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation of nearly $1 million dollars to fund what
is known as the Raritan Piedmont Wildlife Habitat Partnership (RPWHP) and its implementation of
the newly completed Grassland Conservation Plan. Over the next two years, CRI will re-grant the
Duke Foundation funds to non-profit members of RPWHP for land acquisition and habitat restoration
projects to benefit rare and declining grassland bird species. For more information, click here. 3/12/07

Attorney Eric C. Garrabrant joins Flaster/Greenberg’s Egg Harbor Township (NJ) office
Eric C. Garrabrant has joined Flaster/Greenberg as a shareholder and member of the firm’s Real Estate
Practice Group. Garrabrant concentrates his practice in construction and real estate litigation, land use
and planning law and represents buyers and sellers in commercial real estate transactions. Prior to
coming to Flaster/Greenberg, Garrabrant had his own law practice in Wildwood, NJ and previously was
a partner in another South Jersey-based law firm for three years.  He is the current Municipal Prosecutor
and conflict counsel for the City of Wildwood, positions he has held since 2004 and 2002 respectively.
Garrabrant is a member of the New Jersey State Bar and Cape May County Bar Associations. 
He graduated from the Widener University School of Law (J.D., 1996) and received a B.A. from University
of Delaware in 1993.  Garrabrant resides in Wildwood Crest with his wife Dorothy and two sons.3/12/07

Wolf Block pay raise could be sign of things to come In a move that could have a major ripple effect
on other large Philadelphia law firms, Wolf Block Schorr & Solis-Cohen has increased its starting annual
salaries in its main office from $125,000 to $135,000, retroactive to Feb. 1. The city's two largest and most profitable firms, Dechert and Morgan Lewis & Bockius, got an upward salary shift started last month by raising
first-year associate salaries from $135,000 to $145,000. Those two firms -- being the most profitable in town--traditionally pay the highest salaries, with other large firms slotted behind them Business Journal 3/11/07 

Green construction becoming more affordable, builder says The keynote speaker at a green building conference scheduled for Pittsburgh next week says environmentally sustainable construction is becoming
more and more affordable. Susan Eastridge, the CEO of commercial and institutional builder Concord
Eastridge Inc., which has regional headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz. and Alexandria, Va., said in the three
years her firm has been more seriously involved in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED certified building, she has seen green building costs become more competitive with traditional construction methods. Pittsburgh Business Times 3/10/07

PSEG names two attorneys to key executive posts Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) today announced the election of two prominent attorneys to key executive positions in its Legal, Governance and
Public Affairs group within one of its subsidiaries, PSEG Services Corporation. The new executives are:
David P. Falck, a partner in the New York law firm of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, who will become senior vice president-law, effective March 19 and Richard T. Thigpen, co-founding partner of the Trenton,
NJ-based political and public consulting firm 1868 Public Affairs LLC, who will become vice president-state governmental affairs, effective March 26. Falck will have responsibility for corporate and Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) legal matters. Thigpen will have responsibility for governmental affairs in New
Jersey. The two executives will report to R. Edwin Selover, PSEG’s executive vice president and general
counsel who oversees the company’s legal, governance and public affairs group. PSEG 3/6/07 

PPL to Sell its Latin American Companies PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) announced Tuesday (3/6)
that it intends to sell its regulated electricity delivery operations in Chile, El Salvador and Bolivia. “This sale
which we expect to result in a gain for PPL, will be concluded through an auction process that will take
several months to complete,” said James H. Miller, PPL chairman, president and chief executive officer.
“Given that we have no intention of significantly growing our investment in Latin America, and that valuations
are high for solidly performing electricity businesses in that part of the world, it is a good time to pursue this
option for this relatively small portion of the PPL portfolio,” Miller said. PPL  3/6/07

Schnader Harrison re-elects chairman Ralph Wellington has been re-elected chairman of the Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis law firm. He will be serving his fourth consecutive three-year term for the Philadelphia-
based firm. Wellington joined the firm in 1971, became a partner in 1977 and maintains a commercial litigation practice. Philadelphia Business Journal 3/6/07

Philadelphia Airport to pay bigger bills for environment's sake Philadelphia International Airport said Monday it will spend more than $1M over the next five years to buy some of its energy through Peco Energy
Co.'s Peco Wind program. The airport said it will get 7 percent of its energy per year through the clean, but more expensive, energy source. The 13,000 megawatt hours will add $227,514 per year to the airport's Peco bill. That figure is about 0.1 percent of the airport's annual operating budget, officials said. The wind power purchase is the largest of any airport in the United States and equals the electricity consumption of more than 1,300 homes. Its effect on the environment will be equal to planting 970,000 trees or not driving more than 12 million miles,
officials said. Philadelphia Business Journal 3/6/07

Mesa Technical to expand local operations after acquiring PA company Mesa Technical Associates Inc., a power systems and services company in Cobleskill, NY has acquired Power & Environmental Services
Co. of Lansdale, PA. Details of the acquisition were not released. Power & Environmental Services manufactures environmental spill containment systems used in the telecommunications and data center industries. The company's product assembly, engineering and distribution operations will move to Mesa's Cobleskill site by
the end of the month. The Business Review (Albany)  3/3/07 

Atlas America earnings fall with natural gas prices Philadelphia-based Atlas Energy Resources L.L.C. produced 20 percent more natural gas in the fourth quarter, compared to the previous year, but lower natural
gas prices caused revenue to drop by 10 percent Inquirer 3/2/07

Middlesex Water signs contract to acquire wastewater system in Sussex County, DE Middlesex
Water Company of Iselin, NJ, a provider of water and wastewater services in New Jersey and Delaware, today announced it has signed a contract to acquire the wastewater collection and treatment system of the Town of Milton, Delaware through its wholly owned, regulated Delaware subsidiary, Tidewater Utilities. This collection system and treatment plant presently serves approximately 740 customers. Tidewater intends to construct a
new state-of-the-art treatment plant to serve both the existing Town residents as well as several thousand new customers projected in areas surrounding the Town. The new plant is anticipated to be constructed as
development occurs over the next several years after which, the existing plant will be decommissioned by Tidewater. Middlesex Water 3/1/07

Reed Smith completes Sachnoff & Weaver deal Reed Smith LLP today competed its acquisition of
Sachnoff & Weaver, becoming the first Pittsburgh-based law firm to enter Chicago. The transaction adds
another 130 lawyers to Reed Smith, bringing the firmwide total to 1,500. Projected annual revenues are
expected to be $900 million. Pittsburgh Business Times 3/1/07

NRG thinks about dividend, reactors NRG Energy is hardly looking like a company that only emerged
from bankruptcy protection three years ago. The chief executive of the Princeton independent power producer yesterday said it is considering paying a dividend and it may file with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission later
this year an application to build two more reactors at its nuclear power station in Texas Star-Ledger 3/1/2007

Previous months:

Enviro-Business - February 2007
Enviro-Business - January 2007
Enviro-Business - December 2006
Enviro-Business - November 2006
Enviro-Business - October 2006
Enviro-Business - September 2006
Enviro-Business - August 2006
Enviro-Business - July 2006
Enviro-Business - June 2006
Enviro-Business - May 2006
Enviro-Business - April 2006
Enviro-Business - March 2006
Enviro-Business - February 2006
Enviro-Business - January 2006          

Return to the main page