FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	AT

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 1998                                                                                                                            (202) 616-2771

                                                                                                                                                                                 TDD (202) 514-1888

DOJ AND TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL CLEAR USA WASTE/TRANSAMERICAN


MERGER AFTER PARTIES AGREE TO DIVEST HOUSTON ASSETS








	WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice and the Texas
Attorney General's Office today cleared USA Waste Services Inc.'s
proposed $125 million merger with TransAmerican Waste Industries
Inc., after the companies agreed to divest waste hauling and
landfill disposal assets in Houston to eliminate antitrust
concerns.  

	USA Waste sold the Houston assets to TransAmerican as part
of a 1996 settlement with the Department and the Texas Attorney
General's Office.  The merger as proposed, would have allowed USA
Waste to reacquire those assets in violation of the consent
decree in that case.  

	"This divestiture ensures that residential and business
consumers in Houston will continue to enjoy lower prices for
waste hauling and disposal services," said Joel I. Klein,
Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department's
Antitrust Division. 

	The original consent decree, entered in December 1996,
involved USA Waste's acquisition of Sanifill Inc., and prohibits
USA Waste from reacquiring the Houston assets.  The Department
and the Texas Attorney General's Office are seeking modification
of the consent decree to ensure that those assets will be sold to
a third company that can compete in the Houston market after the
proposed merger.  

	USA Waste, which is based in Houston, is the third largest
waste management company in North America.  It has operations in
49 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Mexico and Puerto
Rico.  Total sales were $1.6 billion in 1997.  

	TransAmerican, also based in Houston, has operations in
Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee.  Total
sales were $16 million in 1996.

	The proposed modifications, filed today in U.S. District
Court for the District of Columbia, will be published in the
Federal Register, together with the Department's supporting
memorandum.  Any person may submit written comments concerning
the proposed settlement during a 60-day comment period to J.
Robert Kramer II, Chief, Litigation II Section, Antitrust
Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1401 H. Street, N.W., Suite
3000, Washington, D.C. 20530 (202/307-0924).

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