<B>Casella Reports Favorable Court Decisions</B>

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. received two favorable court decisions in Maine in connection with its efforts to develop additional capacity at its Sawyer Environmental Recovery Facilities (SERF) landfill in Hampden, Maine.

The Maine Supreme Court ruled that State law pre-empts the Town of Hampden's capacity to absolutely prohibit the expansion of the landfill. The court held that the Town of Hampden's zoning ordinance, which the Town applied to ban the expansion of the SERF landfill, is preempted by State solid management waste laws that regulate the location and expansion of landfills to the extent that it imposed stricter standards that are contained in State law. SERF previously received a state permit authorizing the expansion.

Also this week, the Penobscot County (Me.) Superior Court ruled that the Hampden Town Council did not have justification to deny SERF's licensing application for its planned expansion, and remanded the case to the town to grant SERF a license for the next three phases of development. The town has the right to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling, and has the option of filing an appeal of the Superior Court decision as well, company officials cautioned.