City faces $15M lawsuit over pandemic dispute at recycling depots
Hamilton faces a $15-million lawsuit from one of its own waste contractors over a pandemic workload dispute that briefly shut down recycling drop-off stations for residents in late October.
The legal claim comes just 18 months after the city dodged a separate $21-million lawsuit filed by its recycling plant operator and two years after Hamilton's compost plant was forced to shut down because of an inexplicable stench.
Waste Connections of Canada started a new 10-year contract in March to run community depots on the Mountain, in Dundas and the east city where up to 4,500 residents per week drop off extra trash, recyclables and yard waste.
But a dispute with the city over an alleged pandemic surge of recyclable material - think mail-order cardboard and plastics - left residents locked out of the depots Oct. 31. The city later reopened the stations using a fill-in operator.
On Monday, the Vaughan-based waste management giant filed a $15-million breach of contract" claim against the city and also asked for a court injunction to reinstate" what it refers to as a suspended contract.
None of the claims in the document have been tested in court - and the city said Wednesday it has not received or reviewed a copy of the statement of claim filed at the courthouse.
The city has not ended its relationship with Waste Connections," said spokesperson Jen Recine. We are continuing to have ongoing discussions with (the company) to resolve our differences."
A Waste Connections spokesperson declined to comment Wednesday, but the statement of claim says the company will suffer irreparable harm" and lose millions in anticipated profits if the requested injunction is not granted.
Earlier this month, the city told councillors the company walked away" from its duties Oct. 31, forcing a temporary closure of the transfer stations and an emergency search for a fill-in operator.
But at that time, a company spokesperson told The Spectator employees were locked out" and prevented from implementing a pandemic response plan that called for continued operations but reduced hours."
The statement of claim alleges the contract allowed for reduced performance because of unforeseen circumstances sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, including staffing shortages and increases in off-loaded material.
It also points a finger at the city for creating additional chaos" by suspending its own curbside collection of yard waste during the lockdown - but allowing residents to drop off bags at overwhelmed transfer stations.
Prior to the lawsuit, the company said the pandemic lockdown had spurred a dramatic" spike in plastic and cardboard waste, but it did not respond to requests to quantify those volumes. The city has acknowledged more recyclables are being dropped off at transfer stations, but could not provide numbers Wednesday.
The city has wrestled with high-profile waste management problems in recent years, starting with an infamously smelly compost plant that was temporarily shut down in 2018.
The private operator of the city's blue box sorting plant, Canada Fibers, also filed a $21-million claim against the city in 2018 in the middle of a global downturn in the recycling market. The company withdrew the suit and successfully bid on a better-paying contract to run the plant last year.
Matthew Van Dongen is a Hamilton-based reporter covering transportation for The Spectator. Reach him via email: mvandongen@thespec.com