Highlights of CleanAir/Ref-Fuel Meeting – April 5, 2001

Attending:

Ref-Fuel
Andrew Szurgot
Dick Oliver (VP Project Development)
Greg Gessell
Ken Armellino
John Pangionne
John Leardini (H&S Mgr.)
Bobby Price (Niagara Safety Spvr.)

CleanAir
Bill Walker
Allen Kephart
Jim Wright (compiler of these notes)
Tim Rodak

Leap of Faith
Barbara Rapchak

SAIC
Randy Seavers

•	CleanAir presented graph showing declining profit margins with American Ref-Fuel over last two years.  Ref-Fuel (Armellino, Szurgot) indicated that they understand that the trend should not continue, and are willing to explore ways (conventional and non-conventional) to reverse trend.
•	Several topics during CleanAir presentation perked interest from Ref-Fuel:
o	CleanAir Reinvestment Fund – we made it a point that money has not been used quite as intended for mutual benefit to both.  General agreement from Ref-Fuel that the companies and not specific to one plant.  Szurgot and Armellino both commented that they think it is fair to use the fund as a shared contribution to projects (as opposed to completely funding projects with the fund).  Both parties need to look for appropriate projects for investment of funds.  Possibility for mercury CEMS (Armellino, Gessell)
o	Due Diligence Support and Title V consulting – both are things that Ref-Fuel generally handle internally, but may consider using CleanAir’s help in the future.  Ref-Fuel did not seem to know that we did both, or at least not to a significant extent.
o	SAIC and Leap of Faith presentation of capabilities – there seemed to be general interest in both of these service opportunities.  However, comments were made (Armellino, Szurgot) that no immediate projects stood out that would require this type of support.  They did say that the awareness of these services is helpful and may yield future needs.
o	R&P Particulate Monitor – Szurgot concerned about anything that may be perceived as another CEM.  Gessell interested in technical aspects.
•	General Discussions
o	CleanAir offer for Revenue/Profit Sharing arrangement:
•	Comments from both Szurgot and Oliver that this is i) something they are interested in, ii) perceived as a huge paradigm shift, iii) difficult to implement.
•	It was not clear where the barrier exists for implementing this arrangement.  Some comments that it is at the plant manager level, but not necessarily the only level – may be higher.
•	Ref-Fuel agreed to provide financial data that Bill Walker originally requested. Greg Gessell to transmit to Bill Walker.
o	Rule of thumb – Plant Revenue Target = $90-$95 per ton waste combusted.
o	Ref-Fuel’s chief competition = landfills (not other WTE).
o	Ref-Fuel Business Strategies (1-3 year projections):
•	Growth through acquisitions – generally looking for poorly run plants that they can improve upon.  Also considering privatization of municipally-owned plants.
•	Diversification of Product – i.e., burn more special wastes ($300-400/ton versus $20-80/ton).  Niagara specifically considering untreated medical waste.
•	Adding generating capacity – i.e., gas turbines – Essex and Hempstead likely candidates.
•	Position as Green Energy source – PR campaign.
•	Sell their services as bundled package – i.e., pay for waste disposal in return for kW – currently being blocked by utilities, but may get better with deregulation.
o	Safety Issues
•	Ref-Fuel willing to mentor CleanAir for OSHA VPP.
•	Szurgot suggested that we consider certifying our fixed facilities as office work areas under the OSHA VPP, before worrying about mobile work force.
•	Ref-Fuel provided us with some written material to help us perform self-audits of our existing safety program(s) and assess our VPP readiness.