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- 4 - 

 We have spent nearly $65 million (ironically, about $40 million 

 came from the Environmental Protection Agency Grants Program) to 

 construct the Delaware Reclamation Project. This facility has the 

 capability of processing 1000 tons of solid waste per day and 350 

 tons of sludge per day from the metropolitan area of Wilmington, 

 Delaware. 



The cost of the construction and operation of this plant will 

 be borne by the nearly half million people living nearby. Waste 

 materials are processed so that recoverable items are returned to 

 the economic cycle. The plant produces humus and refuse derived 

 fuel -- humus used in our agriculture and turf grass industry and 

 fuel to produce electric power and to satisfy the energy needs of 

 the reclamation plant itself. Excess power will be sold to the 

 local electric utility company. Only residues which have no 

 economic value are sent to the adjacent landfill. Even the landfill 

 will help pay for itself, when later this year methane gas captured 

 there will be sold to a private supplier. 



This land based reclamation system is easily monitored not only 

 by plant officials, but also by the regulatory agencies of the State 

 and Federal Governments. Should there be some future indication 

 that this land based system of disposal needs improvement or 

 correction, there will be ample time and opportunity to do so. Not 

 so in an ocean environment. Once material is dumped in the ocean, 

 it is not recoverable and we must accept whatever consequences may 

 befall us. 



