Date: May 13, 2010
Source: News Room
In what could complicate matters for Waste Connections, a Superior Court judge in Solano County CA ruled in favor of a voter initiative to limit out-of-county waste. The ruling upholds a voter-approved "Measure E," passed in 1984 but never enforced, that restricts any Solano County landfill from accepting more than 95,000 tons per year of waste from outside the county. The county is home to Waste Connections' Potrero Hills Landfill, which it bought from Republic Services in March of last year and represents a significant investment for the company. Waste Connections is expected to file an appeal which will generate an automatic stay of the judge's decision. That is significant since Potrero Hills receives about 850,000 tons per year of waste from surrounding counties. The case is being closely watched for its implications to other communities across the country that might seek to restrict waste imports or seek further justification for doing so, and whether the courts apply the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution to the case. Waste Connections' CEO Ron Mittelstaedt is optimistic that the decision to uphold Measure E represents a way of "punting" the real decision to the state legislature where he thinks it is best handled.
The judge also cleared the way for Waste Connections to move forward for plans to expand the landfill, expanding its acreage from 320 to 580 acres, and its height from 220 to 345 feet, which will extend its life by 35 years. It currently pays the county over $4 million in annual host fees.
See also:
"Waste Coalition Files Suit to Fight Waste Ban in Northern California," (www.wasteinfo.com/news/wbj20090908A.htm).
"Waste Connections Buys Big California Landfill From Republic," (www.wasteinfo.com/news/wbj20090324A.htm).
PRESS RELEASE
May 13, 2010
Judge Upholds Voter Mandate Measure E
Ruling forces Solano County to limit landfill use by municipalities outside of county
Vallejo, Calif. – A Superior Court judge in Solano County yesterday ruled in favor of voter-approved Measure E, which has gone unenforced by Solano County officials for years. Solano County voters passed Measure E in 1984. The measure prevents Solano County landfills from accepting more than 95,000 tons per year of waste from outside the county. The ruling requires county officials to uphold voter-mandated limitations on landfill use.
The county has not enforced the provisions of Measure E since the early 1990s, when the Board of Supervisors and its County Counsel determined that Measure E was unconstitutional. The Sierra Club, the Sustainability, Parks, Recycling and Wildlife Legal Defense Fund (SPRAWLDEF) and the Northern California Recycling Association sued the county in response, and Judge Paul Beeman ruled that Solano County must once again follow the Measure E mandate.
"Yesterday's ruling supports the right of voters to determine important land use issues," says Duane Kromm, a former county supervisor and member of the Sierra Club. "Solano county voters were very clear that they did not want their county to be a cheap dumping ground for the region's cities. This victory ensures that communities will be able to exercise their right to manage limited landfill resources moving forward."
The measure limits the amount of garbage from out-of-county communities that can be accepted by Solano County landfills to 95,000 tons annually. Since the early 1990s, when the county stopped enforcing Measure E's limitations, up to 85% of the total waste disposed of within the county has been trucked in from outside of the county.
The issue of reinstating Measure E arose, in part, from the Potrero Hills Landfill's proposed expansion into the environmentally sensitive Suisun Marsh adjacent to Suisun City. Potrero Hills brings in as much as 1 million tons of garbage annually into its Suisun City site, with most of the trash coming from beyond Solano County. Potrero Hills contends the expansion was required to handle Solano County's waste. This need for expansion would have been avoided had the county continued to enforce Measure E over the past decade.
There is still the lingering issue of the county permit for Potrero Hills Landfill, as Judge Beeman also ruled yesterday that the permit issued in June 2009 still stands. The permit would allow for the expansion of the landfill and acceptance of out-of-county garbage at a rate greater than allowed by Measure E. Plaintiffs intend to continue litigation to address the permit issue specifically.
"Rulings like these will send a signal to the waste management industry that it's time to start taking waste reduction seriously," says Robert "Perl" Perlmutter of Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, attorney for the Sierra Club on the case. "The will of the voters comes first when making long-term waste management decisions that will affect land use and water quality into the future."
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the nation's oldest grassroots environmental organization. The Sierra Club is a California nonprofit organization and has more than 1.3 million members and supporters nationwide.
About Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger
Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP is a law firm specializing in government, land use, natural resource and environmental law. Since 1980, the firm has provided public agencies and community groups throughout California with the highest quality legal representation, offering an array of litigation, counseling and planning services. The firm has received many awards for its groundbreaking work, including appearing on "The Plaintiffs' Hot List" of top-25 American law firms published by The National Law Journal in 2003.
Contact:
Severn Williams
Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger
(415) 336-9623
severn@publicgoodpr.com.
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