Denver Council Approves Contract with Waste Management of Colorado

After a heated debate on the merits of maintaining a long-term contract with Waste Management of Colorado Inc. -- without competitive bidding -- a Denver City Council committee approved an additional $500,000 for the firm Wednesday.

The increase would give Waste Management a total of $9 million to remove construction debris and contaminated soil for the Stapleton redevelopment project at the former Stapleton airport.

Council members argued over an issue t has turned into a lawsuit between the two giants of trash hauling in Colorado.

The Special Projects/Denver International Airport Committee was told that a lawsuit against the city has been filed by a competing waste management firm, Browning Ferris Industries, also known as BFI.

The suit, filed last month in federal court, says the city's contract with Waste Management -- directing that all city waste from homes, schools, industries and construction sites be sent to a dump owned by the city and operated by Waste Management -- is illegal, BFI consultant Steve Coffin said. The contract is "an illegal restraint of trade and violates the Colorado statute that requires these kinds of arrangements to be done after public hearings," Coffin added.

In addition to the $9 million Stapleton contract, Waste Management handles all the waste from Denver International Airport, -- though the airport is adjacent to a BFI dump and 17 miles from the city dump operated by Waste Management.

Garbage collected by city trucks as well as asbestos removal jobs and the demolished remains of Mile High Stadium all went to the Waste Management-run dump, known as the Denver Arapahoe Disposal site, Michael Magee, I district manager for Colorado, said.

Councilwoman Allegra "Happy" Haynes asked why there weren't any competitive bids on the amended contract with Waste Management, which is expected to last up to 60 years.

The present contract "gives us the best prices," replied Greg Holt, deputy manager of aviation/special projects.

"Without the present contract our rates would go up 50 or almost 100 percent" Holt said.

Holt agreed that it would be much cheaper to ship waste from Stapleton or DIA to the BFI landfill. However, he noted Denver receives a fee charged to haulers who use e city-owned dump.

That surcharge brings in $1 million a year and is used to help clean up Denver's Superfund sites, including project to remove pavement in central Denver contaminated with radium, explained Dianna Shannon, director of the city's environmental services division.

Councilman Ted Hackworth favored competitive bidding, noting cheaper transportation costs for waste from northeast Denver.

The city-dump fee "is like a royalty; we can't go for the lowest bid" and lose that money, countered councilwoman Susan Barnes- Gelt.

Holt provided each council member with 15 pages of background material on the trash-hauling issue.

Waste Management was awarded a competitive bid to operate the city-owned landfill at Lowry in 1980, and the agreement was amended 18 years later.

It guarantees Denver "the lowest or best disposal rate charged by Waste Management at the landfill for its lifetime," which is estimated at 30 to 60 years. The Denver Post