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Wheelabrator Gloucester County Project Excels in Safety
OSHA AWARDS ELITE VPP “STAR” CERTIFICATION

Westville, NJ, November 3, 2004 - The federal government today recognized the Wheelabrator’s Gloucester County waste-to-energy facility as among the safest industrial plants in the United States. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) awarded the Wheelabrator facility with its elite Star certification, recognizing the facility with its top award for health and safety excellence. The Star certification, through OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), is the top federal safety award, honoring health and safety excellence.

“This is a remarkable and well-earned achievement for the people here at Wheelabrator Gloucester County and recognition for the safety efforts of Wheelabrator employees across the country,” said Wheelabrator president J. Drennan Lowell. “Protecting our people and providing a safe operating environment is a critically important concern for us. We are proud of our employees and this plant. The OSHA Star certification represents another step forward in Wheelabrator’s mission to have each of its plants reach this high level of safety excellence.”

To qualify, the plants met rigorous OSHA safety and health management criteria, which focus on comprehensive management systems and active employee involvement to prevent or control worksite safety and health hazards.

Today’s honor places the Wheelabrator Gloucester County facility as one of less than 1100 Star certified facilities in the U.S. out of 7 million worksites eligible to earn Star status. Only 20 Star certifications have been awarded nationwide in the industrial category to which the Wheelabrator Gloucester facility belongs.

Fred Lodini, manager of the Gloucester County facility, commended his employees on reaching the safety milestone. “ This is the ultimate goal of every plant in every industry. Now our people know they're working at one of the safest facilities in the country. I want to personally thank all of the employees for their hard work and dedication, without which, the distinction of receiving this prestigious recognition would not be possible.”

Wheelabrator Gloucester County is a 500 ton-per-day municipal-waste-to-energy facility that opened in 1989 to serve the disposal needs of the County. The plant converts the County’s trash into enough clean energy to supply the electricity needs of almost 15,000 homes.

Wheelabrator Gloucester County is a Wheelabrator Technologies Inc. company (www.wheelabratortechnologies.com), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Waste Management, Inc. Wheelabrator Technologies operates 17 waste-to-energy facilities and six independent power plants across the United States. Wheelabrator’s Gloucester County facility becomes the eleventh Wheelabrator project to receive VPP Star certification. The others include Wheelabrator’s Frackville, PA waste coal-fired power plant and waste-to-energy plants in Concord, NH, North and South Broward County, FL, Hudson Falls, NY, Lisbon, CT, North Andover, MA, McKay Bay (Tampa), FL, Millbury, MA, and Spokane, WA.

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