EQ sold to US Ecology in a stock purchase valued at $465 million

By Diane Madigan
Independent Special Writer
On Monday, US Ecology, Inc. announced in a news release that it has entered into a stock purchase agreement to acquire EQ – The Environmental Quality Company.
The transaction, valued at $465 million is expected to close after the regulatory review process, in the second or third quarter of 2014.
US Ecology, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides environmental services and industrial waste management services to commercial and government entities, such as refineries and chemical production facilities, manufacturers, electric utilities, steel mills, medical and academic institutions and waste brokers.
Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, the company is one of the oldest radioactive and hazardous waste services companies in North America.
According to EQ’s Marketing and Communications Director Dave Crumrine, “EQ is pleased with the acquisition by US Ecology because it will allow the company to grow business and serve their customers well.
“This acquisition won’t change the reporting requirements and the regulatory aspects of how EQ operates the business”
Wayne Disposal, Inc. is a 500-acre EQ facility located next to Willow Run Airport off the North I-94 Service Dr. in Van Buren Township, opened in 1957. It is the only commercial hazardous-waste landfill in Michigan and one of only seven of its type in the United States.
The EQ site takes waste containing dangerous materials such as heavy metals, most of which it receives comes from clean-up projects for industrial waste. Low-level radioactive materials from FUSRAP (Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program) sites from the nation’s early atomic energy program are also accepted.