Brantford faces $2-million lawsuit over landfill tender process

From Solid Waste & Recyling Magazine

The former operator of a landfill in Brantford, Ont., is suing the City of Brantford for $2-million after losing its landfill operations contract to an operations firm in Niagara.

Gedco Excavating, of Brantford, is suing the city for breach of contract and negligent representation related to the November 2012 bidding process for a five-year landfill operations contract.

In its statement of claim, Gedco alleges that the City allowed the successful bidder on the landfill contract, known as Future Waste Systems (Niagara) Inc., to submit a non-compliant bid.

While Gedco’s bid was just over $55,000 more than Future Waste’s bid, Gedco officials say that the extra costs were needed to meet the specifications outlined in the City’s bid documents. For example, Gedco claims that Future Waste’s equipment is outdated relative to the contract’s specifications. Gedco also claims that Future Waste’s landfill compactor falls about 160 kilograms short of the contract’s minimum specification of compacting 750 kilograms of waste per cubic metre.

The City of Brantford has yet to release its statement of defence against Gedco’s allegations.