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Wheelabrator North Andover Safely Manages Pit Fire at Facility

North Andover, Mass.-August 22, 2000-Officials from Wheelabrator North Andover, the 1,500-ton-per-day waste-to-energy facility on Holt Road in North Andover, report that a fire that first occurred this morning in the plant's reception area is under control and poses no risk to the safety of plant workers or the community.

Wheelabrator North Andover's crane operator first noticed smoke from the fire in the plant's 5,000-ton storage pit at around 1:30 this morning. Facility fire detection and suppression systems worked as designed, activating alarm and sprinkler systems. In addition to fire officials, plant managers also notified immediately all appropriate local and state agencies. Wheelabrator management immediately notified the North Andover Fire Department, which responded in a 3-alarm call with the assistance of several other communities.

The facility's two combustion units and single turbine generator, which together convert up to 1,500 tons per day of municipal solid waste into 40 megawatts of electricity for New England Power, are shut down pending a complete assessment of the incident. As of noon today, smoke in the reception area continues to impede efforts to evaluate overhead crane systems in the reception building. Again, the smoke poses no threat to the safety of workers or the community.

Waste-to-energy pit fires are infrequent occurrences, usually arriving at such facilities in "hot loads" - trash deliveries that already contain smoldering waste. Plant officials will fully investigate the source of this morning's fire and continue to provide the community with current and complete information.

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For more details, contact:
Scott Emerson, Plant Manager
Wheelabrator North Andover
978-688-9011

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