Pennsylvania DEP Approves First Phase of Erie County Landfill Expansion Permit Application

Pennsylvania DEP Approves First Phase of Erie County Landfill Expansion Permit
Application

MEADVILLE, Pa., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of
Environmental Protection has approved the environmental assessment portion of
a permit application by Waste Management Inc. to expand Lake View Landfill, a
municipal waste landfill in Summit Township, Erie County.

The environmental assessment, commonly referred to as the benefits-harms
analysis, is the first step in DEP's two-step landfill permit application
evaluation process.

"The company has demonstrated that the benefits of the project outweigh the
known and potential environmental harms," said DEP Regional Director Kelly
Burch. "This is the standard that landfill applicants have to meet under
Pennsylvania environmental regulations to successfully close out the first
phase of the permit review before DEP moves to the second phase, the technical
review, which examines the design details of the application."

Waste Management Inc. proposes to increase the existing disposal area by
approximately 90 acres, expanding the landfill to the south of the existing
disposal area and adding approximately 18 million cubic yards of space to the
landfill.

The application does not propose any change to the landfill's currently
approved waste acceptance volumes of 4,600 tons per day average and 5,000 tons
per day maximum. Based on the permit average, the proposed expansion will
provide approximately 10 years of additional disposal capacity.

DEP received Waste Management's application May 5, 2008, and conducted a
public meeting regarding the application Oct. 7.

For more information on waste management regulations, visit
www.depweb.state.pa.us, keyword: "Waste Management."

CONTACT: Freda Tarbell
(814) 332-6816

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Freda Tarbell of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection,
+1-814-332-6816