There's a real possibility some of the work on sites we're currently doing will have to slow down or stop. The consequences of it have the potential to be pretty dire. We don't want to see it get to that point.

This isn't a scare tactic. What this is doing is presenting some scientific data in a real-world scenario so people can understand it.

We are not where we want to be, not for lack of effort, but because the process simply takes longer to produce results than any of us would like.

There's only been a couple of expansions approved since the moratorium took effect and they all had approval from the host community. We want there to be a purpose to any kind of landfill expansion. We need to use our land properly.

This is a solid deal for us at Merrill Lynch , and we are confident about the long-term benefits. We will definitely consider other acquisitions like this when they become available.

We obviously disagree with the EPA finding on this one.

Our first option is not to ... go to court. That's never a first option. There are cases where, for whatever reason, the owners or operators don't want to take measures to comply with the environmental laws everyone else has to comply with.

We think there's a fundamental shift beginning in Japan. People are moving from being savers to investors, and there's a need for higher returns to give people the quality of life they want in retirement.

We would be willing to work with them to address their circumstances. Our main concern is getting this work done as soon as possible.