Spokane County lawsuit targets private garbage collections by Sunshine Disposal

Garbage that should be delivered to the transfer stations owned by Spokane County is instead going to a privately owned facility in Spokane Valley, resulting in a loss of expected revenue and potential rate hikes, county and city officials say.

But Sunshine Disposal President Marc Torre said his company is honoring local agreements, and that the county laws are designed to pinch his business, which has operated unencumbered for more than three decades.

“That’s not fair, and that’s not just,” Torre said.

Spokane County is fighting back, seeking a court order that would bar Sunshine Disposal trucks from collecting garbage in unincorporated parts of the county and some cities, such as Newman Lake and Airway Heights, and delivering it to their transfer station on University Road.

Spokane County Solid Waste Manager Bill Wedlake said the county began noticing lower garbage flow at its transfer stations and the city-operated Waste-to-Energy plant on Geiger Boulevard shortly after the system switched ownership in November.

“The revenue that comes into the system, that funds all the programs,” Wedlake said. “Education, recycling, those types of outreach programs.”

Spokane County and the city shared data about the expected garbage tonnages at each of the transfer stations and Geiger plant when they agreed to swap ownership, said Spokane City Utilities Director Ken Gimple. County workers took over operations of the transfer stations on Elk-Chattaroy and Sullivan roads from city workers on Nov. 17, with the city retaining control of the Waste to Energy Plant on Geiger Boulevard. The county is responsible for trash disposal in unincorporated areas of the county, as well as cities such as Spokane and Airway Heights that have agreed to remain part of the regional system.

Following the transition, it quickly became obvious that Sunshine Disposal was not delivering expected garbage from the cities that had agreed to join the solid waste system, Gimple said.

“I agree with the county and support what they’re doing,” he said.

Prior to switching ownership, Spokane County sought interlocal agreements with cities to handle garbage collection and disposal. While many chose to continue as part of the regional solid waste system started in the 1980s, Liberty Lake and Spokane Valley did not, opting instead to enter into collection and disposal contracts directly with Sunshine Disposal.

Gimple said that decision created a system of potential winners and losers, with potential of “leakages” that could affect rate payers still within the regional solid waste system.

Torre does not see the garbage delivered to the Sunshine facility as leakage from the system. He said his company should have been grandfathered into the existing law because it operated for years with the OK of the city of Spokane, which previously ran the solid waste system.

“In the three years leading up to the change, we had the county engaged in a conversation about how to come up with an agreement that would benefit everyone,” he said. “At most turns, they’ve been unwilling to do that.”

The county wants Sunshine to also pay penalties for what they call repeated delivery of garbage in violation of the law. County commissioners voted unanimously to file the lawsuit in a resolution passed last month.

Torre called out county commissioners for that decision, saying his business has created 15 new jobs at its Spokane Valley facility. He called the legal impasse “unfortunate.”

“I think there’s simple solutions, that would be a win for the county, a win for our company and a win for the citizens of Spokane County,” he said.

Wedlake said he doesn’t have exact numbers for how much garbage is being diverted away from the county’s transfer stations, but the amount is “noticeable.” If the county can’t collect fees on that garbage, rate revisions may be in store for customers of the regional solid waste system, he said.

Gimple likened the issue to a leaking water pipe, and how other customers are hit with charges when that water is diverted elsewhere.

“You get a big leak in a 36-inch pipe, we’re all paying for that leakage,” he said.

The case is scheduled to be heard by Spokane Superior Court Judge Sam Cozza. No hearing date has been set.