Covanta Field Services North Named VPP STAR by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration

HAVERHILL, Mass., Aug. 31 /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 that its Covanta Field Services (CFS) North team has earned STAR status in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Voluntary Protection Program (OSHA VPP).

Covanta Field Services teams travel to Covanta's Energy-from-Waste facilities to perform maintenance activities, typically during scheduled boiler outages. CFS work is primarily focused on keeping Covanta's boilers functioning at optimal levels so that high levels of boiler availability can be achieved. CFS also oversees electrical work and the maintenance of turbine generators and facility cranes.

VPP STAR status is the highest honor awarded to work teams with comprehensive, successful safety and health management systems. Teams such as CFS North are committed to effective employee protection beyond the requirements of federal standards and participants develop and implement systems to effectively identify, evaluate, prevent, and control occupational hazards to prevent injuries and illnesses.

"We are very proud that CFS North is the first traveling maintenance team in OSHA Region 1 to receive the VPP STAR honor," said Seth Myones, President of Covanta Americas. "The nature of their work demands continuous focus on safety day in and day out, but they also must keep in mind the safety of others at the facilities that they service. Their steadfast commitment to health and safety has led to a tremendous safety record and the well deserved achievement of VPP STAR status."

The keys to health and safety success under VPP are employee engagement and ongoing involvement in on-site health and safety program development combined with long term commitment and support from management. VPP STAR recipients routinely incur injury and illness rates that are at or below the state average for their specific industry.

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.  CFS North is the first of Covanta's five field service teams to achieve this status.

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 45 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 more than 9 million megawatt hours of clean renewable electricity and create over 10 billion pounds of steam that are sold to a variety of industries. For more information, visit www.covantaenergy.com.

SOURCE Covanta Energy