FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1995                           (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

             JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AND STATE OF FLORIDA 
             SETTLE SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACQUISITION


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Waste Management Inc. of Florida and
Reuter Recycling of Florida Inc. reached a settlement today with
the Department of Justice and the State of Florida that will
allow the two companies to merge as long as they agree to keep a
waste transfer station that Waste Management will acquire as part
of the deal open to other waste disposal competitors.  The
Department said it believes the restructured deal could result in
lower prices and higher quality waste disposal service in
southern Florida.
     In a joint antitrust action, the Department of Justice and
the State of Florida filed an antitrust suit in U.S. District
Court in Washington, D.C., against Waste Management and Reuter
Recycling alleging that the deal as originally proposed would
lessen competition in the market for municipal solid waste
disposal service in Broward and Dade Counties, by removing one of
only three competitors from the market. 
     At the same time, the Department's Antitrust Division filed
a proposed settlement, that if approved by the court, would
settle the suit and preserve competition in southern Florida's
municipal solid waste disposal service market.
     Anne K. Bingaman, Assistant Attorney General in charge of
the Antitrust Division, said, "Unchecked, this transaction would
have resulted in higher prices and lower quality for consumers of
municipal waste disposal services.  This settlement will preserve
the competition that would have been lost and protect the
consumers in Dade and Broward Counties."
     The Department of Justice said the settlement assures that
access to the transfer station will continue to be available to a
competitor, Chambers Waste Systems of Florida Inc. for up to five
years, on terms that are equivalent to those that would have
existed prior to the acquisition.  The proposed settlement
prevents Waste Management of Florida from interfering with
Chambers' ability to operate a portion of the transfer station
independently.
     Municipal solid waste disposal service is the final disposal
of waste in a landfill or incineration facility.  Transfer
stations enable competitors to offer municipal solid waste
disposal services to customers in Dade and Broward Counties, even
where they do not have a local landfill or incineration facility.
     In addition, the proposed settlement requires Waste
Management to make real estate available to Chambers upon which
it can construct its own transfer station, giving Chambers an 
option to purchase that real estate within the next five years. 
    The final judgment also prohibits Waste Management from
interfering with Chambers' attempts to obtain any necessary
government approvals for a transfer station and obligates Waste
Management to assist Chambers to obtain such approvals on the
optioned real estate.
     The investigation that resulted in the suit and settlement
was conducted jointly by staff from the office of Florida
Attorney General Robert A. Butterworth and the Justice
Department's Antitrust Division.
     Bingaman said, "This settlement demonstrates that our
program of conducting joint investigations with offices of the
states' Attorneys General is a success.  Our staffs are pooling
resources to conduct these investigations with great efficiency."
     This is the fifth case in which the Antitrust Division and a
state Attorney General's office have jointly acted to prosecute a
civil antitrust case since May 1994.
     As required by the Tunney Act, the proposed settlement will
be published in the Federal Register, along with the Department's
competitive impact statement.  Any person may submit written
comments concerning the proposed decree during a 60-day comment
period to Anthony V. Nanni, Chief, Litigation I Section,
Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1401 H St., N.W.,
Suite 4000, Washington, D.C.  20530 (202/307-6576).
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