New Lake Co. solid waste chair: No more unproven trash proposals

The Lake County solid waste board should steer clear of commercially unproven processes when considering future plans for consolidating the county's trash disposal, the board's chairman said.

EDITORIAL: No more solid waste of time

Finally, the ill-fated trash-to-ethanol plan has been abandoned.

EDITORIAL: Stop wasting time on waste solution

Earl Powers' trash-to-ethanol plan sounded good in the same way that Star Trek teleportation sounded good. Maybe someday it would work out, but who really wants to be the test pilot for this new technology?

County recycling districts offer different service levels

With vastly differing budgets, the Lake County Solid Waste Management District and the Porter County Recycling and Waste Reduction District are worlds apart in what they can offer people who recycle.

Waste board may cancel ethanol contract next month

The longtime champion of a Lake County trash-to-ethanol plant expects a final decision to made next month regarding whether to cancel the four-year-old contract.

Region legislators seek tighter leash on Lake County solid waste district

INDIANAPOLIS | Two former Lake County solid waste officials are using their newly acquired legislative pulpit to pursue reforms of their former waste management district board.

EDITORIAL: Wake up from trash-to-ethanol dream

Once more, the Lake County Solid Waste Management District Board of Directors have learned that investors are holding back on funding the waste-to-ethanol project until more is known about the process. Surprised? We didn't think so.

Lake County waste board continues trash-to-ethanol watch in 2013

Lake County solid waste officials began their first meeting of 2013 in much the same position as the last of 2012 — still waiting to see if a long-proposed trash-to-ethanol project will come to fruition.

EDITORIAL: Rotting garbage generating electricity

Closing a landfill is not as simple as covering the garbage with dirt, planting grass, locking the gate and walking away.

Scheub to GOP: Meeting cancellation not a dodge of trash-to-ethanol issue

Politics had nothing — and everything — to do with last week's cancellation of a county solid waste board meeting, Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub said Monday.

Trash-to-ethanol debate pauses until after election

Some Lake County Republican officials are crying foul over the cancellation of last week's solid waste district meeting, dubbing it a possible political ploy to push a discussion past the general election.

Can trash-to-ethanol facility make it?

With yet another collapsed land deal, a fresh set of delays on financing decisions and a contract in limbo, some Lake County solid waste officials wonder if they are hearing the end of trash-to-ethanol.

EDITORIAL: Ethanol proposal continues to sputter

The Lake County Solid Waste Management District Board continues to drag its feet on the dormant trash-to-ethanol proposal, voting last week to give more time to the consortium of region contractors that has talked of buying out developer Earl Powers' stake in this project.

Hazardous waste drop-off is scheduled Saturday in Hobart

HOBART | The Lake County Solid Waste Management District is sponsoring a hazardous waste disposal day Saturday in Hobart.

EDITORIAL: Back to square one on solid waste disposal

As the Lake County Solid Waste Management District tries to determine which direction to turn next, the board members should recognize first where they are and how they got there.

Potential legal issues abound in trash-to-ethanol contract

Some Lake County solid waste officials said they are just as concerned by the legal risks of preserving the controversial trash-to-ethanol contract as the litigation that could result from canceling it.

EDITORIAL: Scrap the trash-to-ethanol project

Lake County Solid Waste Management District officials plan to meet behind closed doors Aug. 30 to discuss the possible legal ramification of terminating the agency's trash-to-ethanol contract with Powers Energy. Earl Powers' failure to show up at Thursday's meeting, even as he knew he was on…

More of the same or new hope in trash-to-ethanol saga?

A few days after Earl Powers pledged to county solid waste officials that financing for the trash-to-ethanol plant was all but locked up, he offered to sell his interest in the project, a Powers' business associate confirmed.

Lake County waste officials to mull termination of Powers contract in executive session

What had been billed as the moment when financiers would potentially endorse Lake County's trash-to-ethanol plan became another in a long line of failures of a would-be developer to produce, some county officials said Thursday.

Lake waste officials await latest financing pitch

Some county solid waste officials remain unconvinced trash-to-ethanol developer Powers Energy of America will secure financing from a major U.S. oil company.