News From USW: Explosion at Giant Resource Recovery Facility

News From USW: An explosion and fire that forced workers to
evacuate a hazardous waste facility owned by Giant Resource Recovery
near Arvonia, Virginia is causing alarm near another Giant facility
that handles more than twice as much hazardous waste.

The Arvonia explosion happened just before noon on February 8.
There were several injuries, and at least one worker was flown via
helicopter to a nearby hospital. State and county emergency management
officials made calls to 75 households within a 2 mile radius of the
Giant facility, urging residents to take shelter indoors. Virginia
environmental officials also were concerned about potential pollution
to the nearby James River.

"First, our hearts and our prayers are with the workers, their
families, and the people who live near Giant in Arvonia," said David
Stepp, President of USW Local 216. "Second, we want to make sure that
state and federal regulators take steps to ensure that the disaster
that just happened in Virginia doesn't happen again here in South
Carolina."

On the evening before the explosion in Virginia, a
standing-room-only crowd of concerned citizens packed an American
Legion Hall in Harleyville, South Carolina to hear about proposed
changes to a hazardous waste permit at a Giant facility in their
community.

Among other changes, Giant is seeking permission to receive 230
new varieties of regulated hazardous waste and to receive bulk waste
shipments via railcar. The USW will submit written comments on the
Harleyville permit modification requests before the end of a public
comment period on February 26.

The USW is also proceeding with a complaint against Giant under
the Citizen Suit provision of the Emergency Planning and
Community-Right-to-Know Act of 1986. The law was passed by Congress
after the notorious 1984 industrial disaster in Bhopal, India that
killed thousands and made thousands more ill.

The USW represents workers at the Harleyville Giant facility, a
cement plant that, according to company filings, received 46,785 tons
of hazardous waste in 2005. The Giant facility in Arvonia is
non-union, and received 21,355 tons of hazardous waste in 2005.

In addition to these two sites, Giant also operates hazardous
waste facilities in Bath, Pennsylvania; Sumter, South Carolina; and
Attalla, Alabama. Giant is a subsidiary of Spain's Cementos Portland
Valderrivas.