
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 21, 1994                   TAG: 9406240032
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP FIRM TO BE ACQUIRED

Earth Technology Corp. of Long Beach, Calif., said Monday it has signed an agreement to buy HazWaste Industries Inc. of Richmond, which operates a subsidiary, Environmental Technology of North America, in Roanoke.

Earth Tech is a publicly traded environmental consulting company. HazWaste, formed in 1987, specializes in clean up or containment of hazardous materials and has service offices in 10 cities in seven states. Under the agreement, HazWaste will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Earth Technology, and HazWaste investors will receive 2.3 million shares of Earth Technology.

Earth Tech stock closed Monday at $12.875 a share, up 37.5 cents, making the HazWaste purchase worth nearly $30 million.

Diane Creel, chairwoman and chief executive officer of Earth Tech, said the addition of HazWaste's remediation capabilities "greatly expands" her company's opportunities as a contractor, especially in the southeastern United States.

Earth Tech has annual revenue approaching $200 million, she said.

Richard Guilford, chairman and chief executive officer of HazWaste, said the combined companies will be positioned to obtain government contracts that are expected to become available in the next few years "as the national interest shifts its focus to expediting environmental clean-up."

HazWaste's Environmental Technology opened in Roanoke last September. It has seven employees.

HazWaste has 300 workers systemwide.

by CNB