Other safety milestones included advancing the company's OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) participation. VPP is a cooperative program among government, industry, and labor to promote industrial safety. In 2002, we completed readiness assessments for 2003 VPP re-certifications at facilites in Hempstead, N. Y., Essex County, N. J., Southeastern (Preston) Conn., and SEMASS (Rochester, Mass.). We continued preparing American Ref-Fuel's facility in Delaware Valley (Chester), Pa., to seek VPP Star Certification in 2004 or 2005. If successful, American Ref-fuel could once again be one of only a handful of companies in the nation to have its entire portfolio of facilities recognized as OSHA VPP Stars.
Seven American Ref-Fuel employees maintained their elite status as Special Government Employees in 2002, qualifying them to assist OSHA at six VPP evaluations. We also mentored seven companies toward VPP.
On the environmental front, it was American Ref-Fuel's best year ever, as measured by the Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) equipment. The success was part of a larger industry trend that has seen emissions from large municipal solid waste combustion units reduced by more than 90 percent since 1990, according to EPA data.
American Ref-Fuel's plant in Hempstead, N. Y. was accepted into the EPA's Performance Track Program. This is a voluntary partnership program that recognizes and encourages top environmental performers. The program is a counterpart to OSHA's VPP recognition of superior health and safety - a program in which the Hempstead plant had been the first waste-to-energy facility in the nation to attain the VPP Star designation.
