Covanta Delano Earns Cal/VPP Star Status for Exemplary Health and Safety

DELANO, Calif., Nov. 10, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Covanta Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE: CVA) and a world leader in the development and operation of large scale Energy-from-Waste and other renewable energy projects, today announced its Covanta Delano biomass facility has earned Star status in California's Voluntary Protection Program (Cal/VPP) administered by the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA).

VPP Star status is the highest honor given to worksites with comprehensive, successful safety and health management systems. Sites such as Covanta Delano are committed to effective employee protection beyond the requirements of state or federal standards and participants develop and implement systems to effectively identify, evaluate, prevent, and control occupational hazards to prevent injuries and illnesses.

"Covanta Delano has joined an elite group of worksites as a Cal/VPP Star by embracing our commitment to continuous improvement of health and safety programs," said Seth Myones, President of Covanta Americas. "To achieve this level of health and safety success, it's essential for sites like Covanta Delano to be diligent in performing every task with safety in mind. I salute Covanta Delano employees for their steadfast dedication that has led to this terrific honor."

In awarding this elite status, Cal/OSHA gives strong consideration to the level of employee engagement and ongoing involvement in on-site health and safety program development combined with long term commitment and support from management. Star recipients routinely incur injury and illness rates that are at or below the state average for their specific industry.

"I want to congratulate the employees of Covanta Delano for the outstanding work they have done to achieve Cal/VPP Star status. In reviewing their safety programs and results, we observed an excellent level of teamwork and cooperation between local management, hourly employees and corporate staff to continuously improve workplace safety," said Iraj Pourmehraban, Cal/OSHA manager. "Covanta's unwavering commitment to effective health and safety programs is evident in the five facilities in California that have achieved Cal/VPP Star status."

Continuous improvement of health and safety programs is central to Covanta's corporate and workplace cultures and has lead to a majority of Covanta's North American facilities earning the prestigious VPP Star status. Covanta Delano joins five other Covanta Cal/VPP Star sites in California, making them five of only 82 other worksites to have received this status in the state. Covanta Energy is among the top 10 companies in the United States to enter the majority of its operating locations in the OSHA VPP Star Program.

Covanta Delano generates up to 50 megawatts of clean, renewable energy from processing biomass waste materials, enough to power over 50,000 homes. Unlike traditional methods of power generation that rely on exhaustible fossil fuels, biomass energy is generated by utilizing wood and agricultural fuel from a variety of local, renewable sources. Biomass energy facilities reduce greenhouse gases by replacing fossil fuel generated energy and preventing the release of greenhouses gases from organic waste that would otherwise decompose in the open. Additionally, the collection and use of agricultural wood waste at biomass facilities like Covanta Delano provide significant air quality benefits to the San Joaquin Valley by reducing the amount of "open field burning" of such agricultural waste. The U.S. Forest Service notes that the "advantage of biomass is that it produces electricity 24/7 while not adding any additional CO2 into the atmosphere. The development of wood energy is needed to ensure our energy security."

About Covanta

Covanta Energy is an internationally recognized owner and operator of large-scale Energy-from-Waste and renewable energy projects and a recipient of the Energy Innovator Award from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Covanta's 44 Energy-from-Waste facilities provide communities with an environmentally sound solution to their solid waste disposal needs by using that municipal solid waste to generate clean, renewable energy. Annually, Covanta's modern Energy-from-Waste facilities safely and securely convert more than 20 million tons of waste into 9 million megawatt hours of clean renewable electricity and create more than 9 billion pounds of steam that are sold to a variety of industries. For more information, visit www.covantaenergy.com.

SOURCE Covanta Energy