Clean Harbors, North America’s leading provider of environmental, energy and industrial services, began construction on its new $100 million incineration unit in El Dorado, Arkansas.

The Clean Harbors El Dorado incineration facility, which is regulated by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, specializes in the destruction of hazardous and industrial waste generated by a variety of businesses, industries and numerous governmental entities at the local, state and federal levels.

“Clean Harbors new world-class incineration unit will add much needed waste destruction capacity to our North American Waste Management Network,” said Phil Retallick, Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. “The new rotary kiln incinerator will almost double the waste destruction capacity at our El Dorado complex. The unit will also add 120 new jobs, which benefits the El Dorado community. Clean Harbors is investing more than $100 million into this expansion which is critical to support customer demand for this technology.”

Governor Mike Beebe joined Clean Harbors’ business leaders, facility management and community representatives from El Dorado to mark the start of construction of the state-of-the-art industrial waste destruction unit, which will enhance the country’s environmental protection infrastructure. According to the Governor’s Office this marks the first time in almost 30 years that new incineration capacity has been constructed in the United States.

“Clean Harbors Environmental has enjoyed success in El Dorado for 40 years, thanks to the quality of the company’s workforce,” Governor Mike Beebe said. “Clean Harbors is generating new opportunities for Southern Arkansas’s citizens through the creation of many high-paying jobs. We appreciate the company’s ongoing commitment to doing business in Arkansas.”

The El Dorado Facility is a top performer in safety, compliance and productivity. The site was selected for its ability to readily support future expansion. More importantly, the El Dorado facility was chosen because of the availability of a talented and well-educated workforce within the El Dorado community, state economic development officials said. The community prides itself on a keen focus on education at all levels to support a vibrant and growing local economy.

“In this economic environment every job is vitally important. Adding over 100 new, good paying jobs, with excellent benefits, will be a tremendous boost to the South Arkansas economy," said Matthew Shepherd, Arkansas State Representative for District 6, on behalf of the El Dorado Chamber of Commerce.

“The Arkansas Economic Development Commission and the El Dorado Chamber of Commerce played a big part in helping support us in our incinerator expansion,” said Ron Hines, Senior Vice President of Incineration Services. “We want to thank them for their support which will benefit our communities, company, employees, customers and the State of Arkansas.”