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WHEELABRATOR PINELLAS, INC, EMBARKS ON AMBITIOUS CAPITAL REPLACEMENT PROJECT

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA - JUNE 10, 2002 - The Wheelabrator Pinellas, Inc. Refuse-to-Energy Facility, located just outside of St. Petersburg, Florida, embarked last year on an ambitious two-year series of modifications that will dramatically improve the plant's operating efficiencies. One of the earliest and most successful products of the United States' municipal waste-to-energy industry, the facility is still the nation's largest such plant. The 75-megawatt, 3,150-ton-per-day Pinellas County project was first opened in 1983 at a total project cost of $243 million. Since that time, the facility has since converted more than 14.5 million tons of municipal solid waste from Pinellas County residents and businesses into enough clean electric energy to power more than 55,000 homes.

Wheelabrator's Capital Replacement Project involves a comprehensive overhaul of each of the plant's three refuse boiler units, replacing all of the steam generating components from the furnace gas exit to the economizer gas exit. Work on Boiler 2 was completed in 2001; Boiler 1 modifications begin this month and will last until January 2003, and Boiler 3 will undergo the retrofit in June 2003 and be completed in early 2004.

Major auxiliary systems for the plant have already been upgraded. Boiler feedwater pumps were replaced or upgraded, the plant's three refuse handling cranes were replaced, the cooling tower system was totally refurbished, and two independent demineralizer trains capable of purifying up to 100 gallons per minute of boiler feedwater to exceptional quality levels were installed. In addition, the facility's instrumentation and control systems were upgraded and the massive tipping floor area, including all entrance and exit ramps, guardrails, and building siding and lighting, were completely modified or replaced.

In 2000, the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) awarded Pinellas County a Gold Award for Integrated System Excellence Award, honoring excellence and innovation in the field of solid waste management and in providing environmentally and economically sound management of solid waste for communities. The Wheelabrator Capital Replacement Project will help ensure that the Pinellas County project sustains this excellence well into the future.

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