Envirocare sold

Envirocare of Utah, the state's only commercial radioactive waste disposal facility, is being sold to a group that includes a New York investment company as well as Utah firm Creamer Investments "and several other local investors."

The price was not announced.

Envirocare, based in Salt Lake City, operates a disposal site at Clive, Tooele County. Other than some small operations authorized to store short-lived radioactive material that quickly become harmless, it is the only facility of its type in Utah.

Envirocare's owner, Khosrow B. Semnani, entered into a purchase agreement with an investment group led by Lindsay Goldberg & Bessemer, New York City. The group includes "Creamer Investments and several other local investors," says the announcement of the sale. The same press release also was posted on the Lindsay Goldberg Web site.

Purchase price was not disclosed, but the release pointed out that the investment company has more than $2 billion of committed capital in its business, focusing on "acquiring well-managed businesses and actively helping to build long-term value."

While agreement has been reached, the transaction has not yet closed, said Tim Barney, Envirocare vice president. Until then, the parties are keeping quiet about details.

"We want to answer questions," Barney said Wednesday. "We look forward to it, but because of how these things go, we need to wait until the closing to do that."

Still, both sides felt the public should know what is going on, so the announcement went out. Meanwhile, Barney said, the closing should be early in 2005, but it's hard to know exactly when.

Dianne R. Nielson, executive director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, said Semnani met with the department Wednesday morning before the announcement was released, "so we wouldn't be surprised."

Such transfers are familiar to the department, which regulates Envirocare. Rules are in place to govern the process, she said.

"We're going to work with the new purchaser to make sure that we can effectively transfer those permits and licenses, and facilitate this decision as best we can," Nielson said.

That not only includes transferring licenses to the new owners, she added, "but also establishment of sureties for closure and post-closure for the radioactive waste as well as the mixed waste on the site."

Mixed waste is material not only contaminated with low-level nuclear material but also with hazardous non-radioactive matter.

"It's important for a facility like this to be able to ensure compliance," Nielson said. "That's what its customers are looking for as a safe place to dispose waste."