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February 13, 2008

Resource Recovery board member quits 'in frustration'

Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian told The Journal today that he quit the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation board in frustration over paralysis on the board, which he joined about a year ago and which has not met since September.

Michael Salvadore, who has served since 2002, also resigned last week.

That leaves just two voting board members, chairman Austin Ferland and Kenneth Aurecchia.

One of the reasons for the conflict are allegations by Resource Recovery’s new executive director, Michael O’Connell, of wasteful spending, conflicts of interest and inflated land deals. O’Connell took those concerns to Governor Carcieri in November, and the state recently hired Deloitte Financial Advisory Services to conduct a forensic audit.

Deloitte, which also conducted an exam of controversial practices at the Beacon Mutual Insurance Co. last year, is being paid $100,000 to conduct a preliminary audit that is due March 12, says O’Connell.

Until those concerns are resolved, Carcieri has preferred that the board not meet.

But Avedisian says that the business of the state’s Central Landfill needs to move forward, the audit notwithstanding.

-- Journal staff writer Mike Stanton

``I’m frustrated by the whole process,’’ says Avedisian. ``I want to talk about things like recycling, not wrangling over quorums and coups. There’s a lot of business that’s not getting done now. So I’ll move on and do other things.’’

Avedisian says that a Carcieri staffer called him today, asking him to reconsider his resignation, but he refused.

Meanwhile, O’Connell wrote in Resource Recovery’s annual financial statement at the end of 2007 that the impasse has stalled ``key hiring, contract, construction and other important decisions . . . Failure to resolve this inability to act by the end of February will precipitate a trash collection crisis in 2009 as we will miss the 2008 construction season for our Phase VI expansion (of the landfill).’’

O’Connell says that he met with top Carcieri aides today to discuss his concerns, and that they asked him for a list of projects that need prompt attention. In the meantime, he said, they told him that they prefer to hold off on reconstituting the shrinking Resource Recovery board until after the audit.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 5:45 PM | Permalink

February 13, 2008

Resource Recovery board member quits 'in frustration'

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