Clean Harbors Announces the Formation of New Subsidiary to Pursue Property Development Opportunities
Appoints William J. Geary, 19-Year Company Veteran, President of New Venture
NORWELL, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 2008--Clean Harbors, Inc. ("Clean Harbors") (NASDAQ: CLHB), the leading provider of environmental and hazardous waste management services throughout North America, today announced the formation of a new subsidiary - Clean Harbors Development, LLC. Alan S. McKim, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Clean Harbors appointed William J. Geary, a 19-year company veteran, as President of Clean Harbors Development.
Clean Harbors Development will have a multi-faceted mission to transform sections of Clean Harbors' existing 16,000 acres of property throughout North America into various traditional commercial enterprises as well as develop alternative power and energy projects, exploit mineral rights and revitalize various Brownfield properties.
McKim stated, "We are delighted to announce this initiative to capitalize on the intrinsic commercial value of our large portfolio of real estate holdings and create new potential sources of revenues beyond our traditional service lines. Relying on existing internal resources, the new subsidiary will focus on converting non-performing and under-performing assets into revenue-generating opportunities. While we expect that some projects may require some initial development expenditures, we believe that those initial costs will not be material to the Company's finances and serve as an investment that will generate a long-term stream of recurring revenue. We have identified several initial projects and expect them to generate incremental revenue within the first year."
"We are also excited that much of the commercial potential of these properties lend themselves to the development of alternative sources of power and energy generation," said McKim. "This coincides with our commitment to be a leader in protecting the environment, not only through our clean-up and recycling efforts, but also through the revitalization of Brownfields and the development of sustainable energy resources."
McKim continued, "Bill Geary is ideally suited to lead this effort. Bill ably represented us during our substantial expansion over the past two decades, and has deep knowledge of our extensive network of properties. Bill's appointment as President at Clean Harbors Development enables us to immediately build on his 19 years of regulatory and legal experience with Clean Harbors."
For the past 10 years, Geary has served Clean Harbors as Executive Vice President and General Counsel and was Vice President of Government Relations & Public Affairs for the prior nine years. Geary will continue to oversee public affairs on behalf of Clean Harbors and all its affiliates as well as serve as Special Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Corporation for investor relations and various strategic projects.
Prior to joining Clean Harbors, Geary was CEO of a Massachusetts public agency that was responsible for managing billions of dollars of public infrastructure assets. Previously, Geary served as a Senior Advisor to the Governor of Massachusetts, a consultant to the White House, and counsel to numerous members of the U.S. Congress and several nationally recognized corporations. He was also an Adjunct Professor at Suffolk University's Graduate School of Management. Geary serves on the Board of Directors of The New England Council.
Geary was appointed a Loeb Fellow in Advanced Environmental Studies at Harvard University, received his law degree from Suffolk University Law School, a masters degree in management and government from Northeastern University, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
About Clean Harbors
Clean Harbors is North America's leading provider of environmental and hazardous waste management services. With an unmatched infrastructure of waste management facilities, Clean Harbors serves over 45,000 customers, including more than 325 Fortune 500 companies, thousands of smaller private entities and numerous federal, state and local governmental agencies. Clean Harbors' Technical Services provides a broad range of hazardous material management and disposal services including hazardous and non-hazardous waste recycling, treatment and disposal, CleanPack(R) laboratory chemical packing, and household hazardous waste management services. Clean Harbors' Site Services provides field services, industrial services, vacuum services, emergency response and disaster recovery, transformer services, tank cleaning and decontamination.
Headquartered in Norwell, Massachusetts, Clean Harbors has more than 100 locations strategically positioned throughout North America in 36 U.S. states, six Canadian provinces, Mexico and Puerto Rico. For more information, visit www.cleanharbors.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Any statements contained herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "plans to," "estimates," "projects," or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's opinions only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements other than through its various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Furthermore, all financial information in this press release is based on preliminary data and is subject to the final closing of the Company's books and records.
A variety of factors beyond the control of the Company may affect the Company's performance, including, but not limited to:
-- The Company's ability to manage the significant environmental
liabilities that it assumed in connection with the CSD and other
acquisitions;
-- The availability and costs of liability insurance and financial
assurance required by governmental entities relating to our facilities;
-- The effects of general economic conditions in the United States, Canada
and other territories and countries where the Company does business;
-- The effect of economic forces and competition in specific marketplaces
where the Company competes;
-- The possible impact of new regulations or laws pertaining to all
activities of the Company's operations;
-- The outcome of litigation or threatened litigation or regulatory
actions;
-- The effect of commodity pricing on overall revenues and profitability;
-- Possible fluctuations in quarterly or annual results or adverse impacts
on the Company's results caused by the adoption of new accounting
standards or interpretations or regulatory rules and regulations;
-- The effect of weather conditions or other aspects of the forces of
nature on field or facility operations;
-- The effects of industry trends in the environmental services and waste
handling marketplace; and
-- The effects of conditions in the financial services industry on the
availability of capital and financing.
Any of the above factors and numerous others not listed nor foreseen may adversely impact the Company's financial performance. Additional information on the potential factors that could affect the Company's actual results of operations is included in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which may be viewed on www.cleanharbors.com/investor_relations.
CONTACT: Clean Harbors, Inc.
Bill Geary, 781-792-5130
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
InvestorRelations@cleanharbors.com
or
Sharon Merrill Associates, Inc.
Jim Buckley, 617-542-5300
Executive Vice President
clhb@investorrelations.com
Source: Clean Harbors, Inc.