EXHIBIT 99
Analyst Contact: Media Contact:
Cherie Rice William J. Plunkett
(630) 218-1850 (630) 572-8898
WASTE MANAGEMENT AGREES TO MAKE AMENDED SEC FILINGS;
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REPORTS ON AUDIT COMMITTEE DEVELOPMENTS
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Oak Brook, Illinois, January 5, 1998 -- Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE -- WMX)
announced today that, in response to a request from the Division of Corporation
Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission, it has agreed to file amended
Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q for the year ended December 31, 1996 and for the
three month periods ended March 31, 1997 and June 30, 1997. The amended reports
will contain restated financial statements and revised management's discussion
and analysis reflecting information contained in the Company's Form 10-Q for the
three months ended September 30, 1997, which revised certain previously reported
financial data.
As previously announced, Waste Management, under the active oversight of the
Audit Committee of its Board of Directors, is engaged in an extensive
examination of its North American operations, assets and investments, as well as
a review of certain of its accounting methods and estimates. The Company has
previously indicated that these reviews are expected to result in a material
charge to earnings for the fourth quarter of 1997, and that revisions to
accounting policies and estimates could impact future results of operations.
The Company reported today that its examination is ongoing and, with the
forthcoming filing of an amended Report on Form 10-K for 1996, necessarily
includes a review of the Company's previously filed financial statements for
1995 and 1994. As a result of its work to date, the Company now expects that the
financial statements for 1995 and 1994 will reflect revisions to previous
classifications of various items of income and expense. The Company indicated
that it expects the revisions for 1995 and 1994 to be similar in nature to the
revisions to its financial statements contained in the Report on Form 10-Q for
the three months ended September 30, 1997.
The Company stated further that it is continuing to carefully examine the
Company's accounting estimates and methods in several areas, including the areas
of vehicle and equipment depreciation and landfill cost accounting. The Company
cannot determine at this time whether its work and ultimate conclusions will
necessitate revisions to previously reported earnings beyond those discussed
above.
The Company noted that since the end of October 1997, its Board has named new
personnel to the positions of Acting Chief Executive Officer, Acting Chief
Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer and has reconstituted the
Audit Committee to include members who were all first elected directors in 1997.
As a result of these organizational changes, the Company indicated that the
examination and evaluation of matters relating to both current period and prior
period financial statements is unlikely to be completed prior to the date on
which the Company is expected to file its Report
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on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 1997 (which is currently targeted
to occur near the end of February 1998).
Waste Management, Inc., based in Oak Brook, Illinois, is the leading
international provider of comprehensive waste management services. The Company
operates throughout the United States and in select international markets
through its principal subsidiaries, Waste Management, Wheelabrator Technologies
and Waste Management International.
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