Landfill

He chose West Point over Yale, knowing he'd be sent to an unwinnable war. He survived Vietnam, then led the tumultuous effort to create a memorial on the National Mall. He attended the best law and business schools, but he remained in public service. He helped the Pentagon plan for nuclear war in one century and cyber warfare in the next. He was the first chief executive of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Now, Delaware authorities are trying to learn how and why John Parsons Wheeler 3d was killed.

Within weeks, discarded televisions and computer equipment in New Jersey will go from trash to treasure. A state law that bans landfilling the equipment, and encourages its recycling, goes into effect Jan. 1. Similar to e-waste laws in nearly two dozen states - including Pennsylvania, where Gov. Rendell signed legislation last month - the Jersey law switches the recycling onus from consumers and taxpayers, making manufacturers ultimately responsible...

A Pennsylvania woman who allegedly stowed the remains of four children in her closet and threw the bones of another into a landfill was charged with five counts of murder Monday. Michele Kalina, 44, had previously been charged with abuse of a corpse on Aug. 9 after her husband and daughter discovered containers with the tiny bodies inside a closet of their Reading apartment. The children were born alive and then killed, the Berks County coroner ruled. According to District Attorney John T. Adams, a pathologist concluded Oct. 14 that the deaths were due to nonnatural causes "consistent with asphyxia, poisoning, or neglect.

RE MICHAEL Smerconish's Sept. 2 column "Send Philadelphia's Recycling Nannies to the Landfill": Mr. Smerconish suggested that I send my Streets & Walkways Education and Enforcement Program officers to the landfill. Sorry, but Mayor Nutter and I have spent two years working to reduce what we send there. That hard work is for a good reason: Every ton of waste that goes to the landfill costs taxpayers $65, while every ton of recycling our crews collect earns the taxpayers $50. The city expects to earn $3 million from recycling this year.

Atop a sealed mound of industrial waste on a historically toxic swath of Gloucester County, Bill Geary sees a sunny future. His company awaits delivery of about 6,500 solar panels for the former Rollins Environmental facility, where six people died and at least 30 were injured after a massive explosion on Dec. 8, 1977. This notoriously wounded place looks far from hellacious; in fact, it's sort of scenic. Geary and I climb the slope of the defunct landfill that rises above the marshy grass in the heart of the site, near the Route 322 fields.

IF THE Streets Department called Central Casting and requested a "greenie" - and I say that without derision - Kevin Stutler would've gotten the role. He's a vegetarian who recycles religiously. And the former owner of a 20-acre organic farm (complete with solar-warmed showers) who's still an organic gardener. He grows worms in his garage. And collects old batteries off the street so their toxicity doesn't end up in local soil or water. And he lives, where else, in Mount Airy!

James L. McKenna, 56, an environmental and insurance-litigation lawyer in South Jersey who worked on landfill cases that lasted several years, died Friday, May 14, at Cooper University Hospital of a brain injury sustained in a recent fall. While working for a national defense-litigation law firm based in Philadelphia in the 1980s, Mr. McKenna "stumbled into" an environmental case, his wife, Joan, said. Once the case was over, he decided environmental law would be a good niche.

This afternoon, Philadelphia will unveil its latest ambitious recycling initiative, an incentive-based program that city officials say could reward households $240 a year for their participation and save the city millions of dollars in landfill fees. The program, titled Philadelphia Recycling Rewards, will begin in February in North Philadelphia and will be rolled out to a new section of the city every month after that. It is expected to increase the city's recycling rate dramatically by the end of next year.

You're committed to curbside recycling. Now, how do you tackle the tough stuff? Check out these solutions for seven hard-to-recycle items. Freezing out inefficient models reaps cool rewards. Most appliances can be tricky to dispose of properly. Refrigerators and freezers in particular are required by law to be properly recycled because of their hazardous components. Best Steps: If you're replacing an old refrigerator, first check with your local utility. Just by getting rid of an inefficient but functioning model, you may qualify for a rebate and free removal.

The vacant waterfront parcel in South Jersey is within walking distance of a historic battlefield and park on the Delaware River. But its potential for development depends upon a planner's imagination: The 70-acre Gloucester County site is a shuttered landfill. The land contains twisted pieces of Society Hill homes demolished between 1970 and 1978 for the revitalization of South Philadelphia. National Park Borough residents watched the landfill rise beyond their backyards as workers threw concrete chunks from a razed baseball stadium into the mix. Now, the borough, where the Revolutionary War Battle of Red Bank was fought, plans to cap the landfill and build a shopping center.