Texas firm sues LV over medical waste

Just months after one medical waste recycling company was run out of town, the trash war in Clark County is back on.

A Houston, Texas, waste disposal company on Wednesday filed a lawsuit in District Court challenging an exclusive contract claimed by Republic Silver State Disposal to handle all of the medical waste in the city of Las Vegas.

BFI Waste Systems of North America, part of Browning-Ferris Industries, filed the lawsuit in an effort to force city officials to grant it a license for the collection and disposal of waste from hospitals and clinics in city limits.

BFI already has obtained business licenses in Henderson, North Las Vegas and Clark County, the legal action noted.

The lawsuit, filed through attorney Frank Cremen, states that BFI was recruited by "multiple hospitals" to enter Southern Nevada's lucrative medical waste disposal market.

Disposal rates for medical waste charged by Silver State's subsidiary Environmental Technologies of Nevada "are far in excess of those regulated rates that Silver State can charge for the collection of garbage, dirt, rubbish and other refuse," the lawsuit stated.

BFI contends that while Silver State has a monopoly on garbage collection and disposal, that "does not apply to the disposal of medical waste, which is specifically defined under Nevada Administrative Code."

The company already has contracts with two hospitals within city limits to collect and recycle or dispose of their medical waste at BFI's existing dump sites in Utah or California, the lawsuit stated. But the implementation is on hold until the legality and licensing issues are resolved.

On July 31, Las Vegas business license director Jim DiFiore denied BFI a license to operate, citing the exclusive agreement with Silver State and stating that BFI's operation "would duplicate a function currently being performed by the authorized contractor of the city."

DiFiore warned that if BFI operates without a license it could result in citations and fines of up to $1,000 a day plus jail terms up to six months.

In the lawsuit, Cremen alleges that to prohibit BFI from collecting and trucking medical waste out of state "would be an attempt to regulate interstate commerce in violation of the U.S. Constitution."

The lawsuit is asking Chief District Judge Myron Leavitt for an order declaring that medical waste is not covered by the city's exclusive agreement with Silver State -- a ruling that would open the door not only for BFI but also for other companies in the medical waste field.

Injunctions also are sought to prevent city officials from citing BFI for its medical waste activities in city limits.

For three years, until this Spring, most of the medical waste collection and disposal in Clark County had been performed by a company called U.S. EnviroMed -- a recycling company that hospital officials said was about 25 percent cheaper than Silver State's subsidiary.

But U.S. EnviroMed was run out of state after it was learned that tons of untreated medical waste had been buried on company property rather than sent by train to a dumpsite in Arizona.

Since then, Silver State has been the only company licensed to deal with the trash.

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