Folsom-based trash hauler Waste Connections Inc. has filed a lawsuit against El Dorado County, claiming the county is not honoring terms of its waste-handling contract.
The suit was filed Friday in El Dorado Superior Court.
Waste Connections is seeking a 3.4 percent rate increase to reflect increases in the consumer price index, under terms it said are outlined in a contract scheduled to run through 2012.
Ron Mittelstaedt, Waste Connections' chairman and CEO, said Wednesday that the lawsuit "was really just a formality in the process we started 45 days ago."
The company filed an administrative claim with the county on Aug. 31. By law, county supervisors had 45 days to accept or reject the claim, or simply to let the deadline pass.
The county took no action, and spokesman Mike Applegarth said Tuesday that the county will not comment on ongoing litigation.
Mittelstaedt said his company and county officials have had "brief discussions" since Aug. 31.
He said Waste Connections told the county it intended to file a suit as part of the legal process, but that discussions likely will continue in the future.
"I think there's agreement that we want to resolve it, but we haven't agreed on how to resolve it, so (the lawsuit) was filed," Mittelstaedt said.
The suit asks for unspecified compensatory damages.
El Dorado officials have been attempting to rein in costs in several areas, including waste disposal.
In mid-June, supervisors unanimously declared their intent to do away with the fuel surcharge that El Dorado Disposal Service – a wholly owned subsidiary of Waste Connections – has passed along to customers since 2006.
County officials contended the fuel surcharge was not needed because fluctuations in diesel prices (the primary fuel for Waste Connections' trucks) are reflected in annual garbage collection rate adjustments.
At a June 23 meeting, supervisors approved a 0.1 percent rate increase without a fuel surcharge.
For residential customers, Waste Connections said a 3.4 percent rate increase translates to about 45 cents to 85 cents a month.
Waste Connections did not disclose the total value of the original contract, which dates to 1997. Mittelstaedt has said that a 3.4 percent increase "means more than a million dollars to us" over the next several years.
Call The Bee's Mark Glover, (916) 321-1184.
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