Colorado Judge Rules on Clean Harbors' Waste Permit; District Court Ruling Removes Ban on Shipments of Low Level Radioactive Material and Hazardous Waste to Deer Trail Facility.

DENVER -- A judge in Colorado's 17th Judicial District has denied Adams County's appeal to prevent Clean Harbors from accepting low level radioactive material and hazardous waste at its 325-acre Deer Trail facility on the eastern edge of the county.

In an order issued this week, District Court Judge John E. Popovich Jr. ruled that Adams County did not have standing to sue the state of Colorado for issuing a hazardous waste permit to the facility this past December. Judge Popovich's decision comes on the heels of a May 5th decision from Denver District Court Judge Robert L. McGahey Jr. to dismiss Adams County's appeal of the Radioactive Materials Disposal License issued by the state to Clean Harbors' Deer Trail Facility in December 2005.

"We went through an extremely rigorous administrative permitting and licensing process with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) for over a year to ensure we could safely accept naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in Deer Trail," explained Phil Retallick, Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc. Senior Vice President for Compliance and Regulatory Affairs. "The state agency that has the expertise and pre-eminent regulatory authority in these issues determined that our facility meets the most stringent qualifications to handle this material in a manner that is protective of public health and the environment. Now, two different state courts have ruled that the county's appeal of the State of Colorado's regulatory action does not have a proper legal basis."

Retallick continued: "The end result is that Colorado taxpayers and ratepayers have a safe, convenient and cost-effective facility -- engineered to standards above and beyond federal guidelines -- for disposing of low level radioactive materials. This could include waste from the City of Denver Radium Streets Superfund Site Cleanup Project. We could also take drinking water treatment residues contaminated with NORM that come from the many Colorado municipalities who must comply with the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act's new radionuclide maximum contaminant levels."

Under the CDPHE radioactive materials license, issued in December, the only materials that the Deer Trail facility will be allowed to accept are those that fall below the state's statutory threshold for "radioactive" waste, which is .002 microcuries per gram of material. According to Retallick, Clean Harbors is committed to following the letter of the law. "We're more than willing to work cooperatively with the leadership and residents of Adams County to ensure longterm stewardship of public health and the environment in the communities surrounding our facility," he said.

About Clean Harbors, Inc.

Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc., is North America's leading provider of environmental and hazardous waste management services. With an unmatched infrastructure of 48 waste management facilities, including nine landfills, five incineration locations and seven wastewater treatment centers, the Company provides essential services to more than 45,000 customers. 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.