Clean Harbors Announces the Appointment of a New Chief Operating Officer.

Business/Technology Editors

BRAINTREE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 11, 2000

Clean Harbors, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLHB) today announced the appointment of Eugene Cookson as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO).

In making the appointment, Alan S. McKim, President and CEO said, "During the past two years as Senior Vice President of Field Sales and Operations, Gene Cookson has created significant momentum for growth throughout our company. Gene has demonstrated the kind of leadership and skills that will be needed to take our operations to the next level of performance in the areas of health and safety, compliance, operations and profitability."

"As a ten year veteran of the company, Gene has earned the respect of our workforce and has demonstrated his ability to build a solid team of professionals around him. Most importantly, Gene has also shaped and motivated those individuals into a cohesive team that has become the most respected group of environmental service providers in our industry."

"Gene, has assumed increasing operational responsibilities over the past two years and in his new position he will now have day to day oversight of all the operations of the Company."

Mr. McKim's announcement of Mr. Cookson's promotion comes as a follow-up to Clean Harbors' recent announcement (7/24/00) of record financial results in virtually every performance category, Revenues, EBITDA, Earnings, and EPS.

About Eugene A. Cookson Jr.

"Gene" Cookson, Chief Operating Officer of Clean Harbors began his career in the environmental industry as a field engineer for W.R. Grace, Polyfibron Division and then as an environmental engineer for Pollution Control Industries.

He left the environmental industry for nearly nine years and entered the booming construction market where he developed his sales career by selling construction equipment. Over that nine year period his career progressed to the level of sales manager and branch manager where he developed his operational skills. He earned many national awards for both his sales and branch management performance.

Mr. Cookson began his career at Clean Harbors in 1991 as a National Account Manager and within six months was promoted to Sales Manager for the Remedial Projects Group. He then spent over two years as the General Manager for the New Hampshire Service Center where he was presented the Clean Harbors Shareholders Value Award for growth and service. He was promoted to Director of the Lab Pack Division and was asked to nationalize the group and develop a product line. Mr. Cookson's Next move was to take over the Northeast Region as District Sales Manager, a $60 million district and the largest for Clean Harbors.

Mr. Cookson was promoted to Director of Sales and managed all the various sales districts, and he eventually rose to the position of Sr. Vice President of Field Sales and Operations in January 1998, the position he held prior to his promotion as Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Cookson resides in Reading, MA with his wife and two children. Mr. Cookson holds an Associates of Applied Science degree in Natural Resource Management from Hathorne Technical Institute, a Bachelors of Science degree in Forest Management from the University of New Hampshire and a Masters of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from Northeastern University.

About Clean Harbors, Inc.

Clean Harbors, Inc., is a national environmental services corporation providing a wide range of industrial waste management and environmental clean-up services to a diversified customer base including a majority of the Fortune 500 companies and numerous Federal, state and local government agencies and thousands of smaller entities.

The Company currently has service and sales offices located in 27 states and Puerto Rico, and operates 12 waste management facilities strategically located throughout the country.