Veolia bought by Advanced Disposal Services of Alabama, owned by Highstar Capital of New York City @ LCC 2012-12-10

Received today on Solid Waste, Developer Favors, Dollar General, Library, and Alcohol: Agenda @ LCC 2012-12-10:

Veolia was acquired by Advanced Disposal, there is no conspiracy theory here or a change of vendor than was previously voted for. http://www.wasterecyclingnews.com/article/20121120/NEWS01/121129990/advanced-disposal-closes-veolia-deal,

That’s why we allow anonymous comments on this blog: occasionally one provides useful information. Now riddle me this: why did the county leave the citizens to guess about Veolia and Advanced Disposal Services of Central Alabama, Inc.?

And for that matter, Veolia is based out of Jacksonville, Florida and its purchaser is based in Alabama, and is in turn owned by Highstar Capital of New York City and Houston, Texas? Why is granting a cheap monopoly to an out-of-state company more important than either letting local companies compete for the service or having the county continue to provide a public service directly to its taxpayers and citizens?

WRN Staff wrote for Waste Disposal News 20 November 2012, Advanced Disposal closes Veolia deal,

Advanced Disposal Services, Inc., has completed its acquisition of Veolia ES Solid Waste Inc.

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company announced the closing of the $1.9 billion transaction just before 2 p.m. today.

News of the closing came just days after the Justice Department told Advanced Disposal that it would need to sell off three transfer stations in northern New Jersey, a landfill and two transfer stations in central Georgia, and three commercial waste collection routes in the Macon, Ga., area to pass anti-trust muster.

Highstar Capital — the owner of Advanced Disposal and Interstate Waste Services Inc. — emerged in July as the winner in the bidding war for Veolia ES Solid Waste Inc. When the purchased was announced, Highstar said the three companies would merge into a one, which would operate under the Advanced name. Advanced Disposal took control of Interstate Waste in September.

Now that the deal is complete, the “new” Advanced Disposal becomes the largest privately owned waste company in North America with an estimated $1.4 billion in annual revenue and more than 3,000 collection vehicles doing work in 20 states.

So the Lowndes County Commission wants to grant a monopoly to what used to be a company so large it had to divest parts to avoid anti-trust actions, and now is part of “the largest privately owned waste company in North America.” How does that help local business in Lowndes County, Georgia?

-jsq