Sludge Watch ==> N-Viro Annual Meeting - red ink - ethical issues - death threats

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

Commenting on this story does seem a little redundant.  Here is a company 
that mixes sewage sludge and cement kiln dust, or lime kiln dust, or any 
variety of industrial wastes that industry will pay them to take.    That is 
where the profit lies...in the tipping fees.  The 'product' the so-called 
'N-Viro Soil'  (or one of their many other euphemistic product names for 
sewage sludge mixture) does not have much of a market.

Farmer organizations in Nova Scotia refuse it, it was stockpiled so long in 
southern Ontario that it ate through the metal storage shed.  It has so much 
cement kiln dust waste in it that the trace nutrients from the sewage are 
negligible.

As to its value for energy production?  The energy value is only diminished 
by the cement kiln dust - which has no BTUs.

Pity poor Nova Scotia, Canada.  The N-Viro gig is just cranking up there.  
There the toxic componenents in the sewage sludge are toxically enhanced 
with the thallium and other heavy metals in the cement kiln dust from 
Lafarge Brookfield.  Lafarge burns used oil, and now tires..so their cement 
kiln dust is even more contaminated than before.   Industry is trying to 
change the requirements of the Federal Fertilizer Act to loosen the quality 
controls so that sludge ammendments in Canada can evade provincial waste 
management legislation.


Watch N-Viro get out the pitch.  Watch the farmers get out their pitchforks.


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http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070609/BUSINESS03/706090387

Article published Saturday, June 9, 2007
Shareholders at N-Viro meeting get good, bad news
Chief executive promises growth, but financial, ethical issues loom

By GARY T. PAKULSKI
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER


It was a tale of two companies at the annual shareholders' meeting of 
Toledo's N-Viro International Corp. yesterday.

At times, the firm sounded like a promising tech venture that has made a 
major breakthrough in the energy field.

At other times, it was portrayed as a troubled entity that is mired in red 
ink and ethical issues.

"We're going to continue to grow and continue to build the company," Chief 
Executive Timothy Kasmoch told about 20 stock owners at Brandywine Country 
Club in Monclova Township.

He extolled a new product, made from sewer plant sludge, that company 
officials say can be combined with coal to power electricity plants.

Tests of N-Viro Fuel proved successful at a power plant this year. "The 
product will be very attractive to power plants that burn coal," Mr. Kasmoch 
said.

He predicted it will play an increasingly important role in the firm's 
future.

Yet the firm failed to score with N-Viro Soil, which executives have 
promoted for years as an environmentally friendly solution to millions of 
tons of waste from sewage treatment plants and farms.

The firm has rarely been profitable. Its first-quarter loss soared 85 
percent from a year-earlier to $242,903 on slightly higher revenues of $1.1 
million.

Last year, revenues slipped 14 percent to $3.6 million and losses increased 
sixfold to $1.7 million. About a third of sales are from a contract with the 
city of Toledo's sewage treatment plant.

N-Viro shares trade on the over-the-counter bulletin board. They gained 8 
cents to close at $2.85 yesterday.

The firm's executive suite and board have been a revolving door recently. 
The company is chaired by James Hartung, president of the Toledo-Lucas 
County Port Authority.

Founder J. Patrick Nicholson is locked in a legal fight with the firm's 
largest stockholder and certain current and former officers over his loss of 
control of the company. In a federal court suit filed in Toledo last year, 
he alleged that his life was threatened. Company officials denied the 
allegations.

Stock owner Harry Hackett, in an exchange yesterday with executives and 
another shareholder that at one point grew heated, raised questions about 
conduct of company officials.

He claimed they failed to disclose major events and diluted the value of 
shares by excessive issuance of stock options and warrants to insiders. Mr. 
Hackett also questioned the company's practice of doing business with firms 
in which officers and directors have an interest.

The chief executive denied any improprieties and vowed to improve the firm's 
financial position. "Give me one more year," Mr. Kasmoch said.