BFI Waste Systems of North America LLC v. Freeway Transfer, Inc.

867 F. Supp. 2d 1037, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46107, 2012 WL 1094457
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedApril 2, 2012
DocketCase No. 10-CV-4358 (PJS/TNL)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 867 F. Supp. 2d 1037 (BFI Waste Systems of North America LLC v. Freeway Transfer, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
BFI Waste Systems of North America LLC v. Freeway Transfer, Inc., 867 F. Supp. 2d 1037, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46107, 2012 WL 1094457 (mnd 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

PATRICK J. SCHILTZ, District Judge.

This case involves a contract dispute between two waste-management companies: BFI Waste Systems of North America LLC (“BFI”) and Freeway Transfer, Inc. (“Freeway”). This matter is before the Court on Freeway’s motion for partial summary judgment [Docket No. 39], BFI’s motion for summary judgment [Docket No. 45], and Freeway’s motion for sanctions pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 [Docket No. 65]. For the reasons that follow, the Court denies both parties’ summary judgment motions and Freeway’s motion for sanctions.

I. BACKGROUND

The following is undisputed:

In 1990, Hennepin Transfer Inc., an affiliate of BFI, contracted with Freeway to use Freeway’s waste-transfer station in Burnsville, Minnesota (“Freeway Transfer Station”).1 Sometime in 2003, BFI began constructing its own waste-transfer station in Eden Prairie, Minnesota (“Eden Prairie Transfer Station”). Freeway claimed that BFI had breached a provision of the parties’ 1990 contract by constructing a competing transfer station near the Freeway Transfer Station. On November 13, 2003, Michael McGowan, President of Freeway, and Paul Rosland, BFI’s District Manager, executed a two-page letter agreement to settle Freeway’s claim against BFI. This two-page agreement (“2003 Contract”), which consists of just seven numbered paragraphs, is the focus of this litigation.

For purposes of the parties’ summary judgment motions, only two paragraphs of the 2003 Contract are at issue. Paragraph [1040]*10402 sets forth BFI’s payment obligations to Freeway, providing, in relevant part, as follows:

BFI agrees beginning in January of 2009,2 to pay Freeway a guaranteed $230,000 per year. This amount will be paid in equal monthly installments. In return for this guaranteed payment of $230,000, BFI shall have the ability to use Freeway’s Transfer station ... for up to 250 tons per day....
In addition to the annual guaranteed amount of $230,000, BFI agrees to pay all operating expenses, including the taxes up to $60,000 per year, at the Freeway Transfer Station. This agreement is for a ten-year term....
If another hauler or entity (including governmental entities) uses the facility, all expenses and repairs including taxes will be shared on a pro rate basis by tonnage.

McGowan Aff. Ex. C at ¶2 [Docket No. 42-3] (line breaks added for clarity).

Paragraph 4 provides that, upon the occurrence of any of four conditions, BFI’s obligation to pay Freeway will be void:

Freeway and BFI agree that provisions 2 and 3 of this letter agreement will be null and void [1] in the event of the imposition of flow control or other regulatory changes which make the operation of the Freeway Transfer Station economically not viable; [2] if a tax is imposed which also makes the operation of the Freeway Transfer Station as outlined above financially not viable, or [3] BFI’s landfill located in or about Sarona, Wisconsin (“Lake Area Disposal”) closes for any reason,3 or [4] its ability to accept municipal solid waste is significantly reduced by virtue of changes to existing regulations, laws or taxes.
BFI agrees that it will not declare the operation of the Freeway Transfer Station economically “unviable” unless it has also ceased municipal solid waste transfer operations at any other BFI transfer station facility located within 30 miles of the Freeway Transfer Station including the Eden Prairie BFI transfer facility currently under construction....

McGowan Aff. Ex. C at ¶ 4 (line break and bracketed numbers added for clarity). The Court will refer to each of the four conditions that void BFI’s payment obligations as a “cancellation clause.”

In 2009, Wisconsin significantly increased the tax that it imposes on the deposit of waste in landfills within the state — apparently in an attempt to reduce the amount of out-of-state waste brought to Wisconsin for disposal. See Wis. Stat. §§ 289.645 and 289.67. The tax was imposed on generators and haulers of waste, but landfill owners were required to collect it. After the tax increase took effect, BFI and other waste haulers stopped bringing Minnesota waste to the Sarona landfill. This had a substantial impact on the landfill, as most of the waste deposited in Sarona had come from Minnesota.4

In January 2010, Bryan Zimmerman, BFI’s Area President, emailed McGowan to inform him that BFI would not be using the Freeway Transfer Station beginning in March 2010, as originally planned. John[1041]*1041son Aff. Ex. M. [Docket No. 49-2]; see also Zimmerman Dep. Ex. 12.5 Zimmerman reassured McGowan, however, that BFI would continue to “honor [its] contractual agreement” with Freeway. See Zimmerman Dep. Ex. 12. And, true to its word, BFI paid Freeway over $90,000 from March 2010 to August 2010, as required by Paragraph 2 of the 2003 Contract. See Zimmerman Dep. at 199; see also Zimmerman Dep. Ex. 17.

On September 1, 2010, however, BFI notified Freeway that, pursuant to the fourth cancellation clause of Paragraph 4, it was declaring its payment obligations null and void because of the Wisconsin tax increase. See Zimmerman Dep. Ex. 3; Johnson Aff. Ex. O at BFI000207 [Docket No. 49-2]. BFI stopped making payments to Freeway, and this lawsuit ensued.

II. DISCUSSION

The parties’ motions for summary judgment raise four questions:

First, did the Wisconsin tax increase significantly reduce the Sarona landfill’s “ability to accept municipal solid waste,” thereby voiding BFI’s payment obligations?

Second, if the tax increase did significantly reduce the Sarona landfill’s ability to accept waste, did BFI knowingly and intentionally waive its right to void its payment obligations on that basis?

Third, is BFI required to close its Eden Prairie Transfer Station if it voids its payment obligations for any reason?

Fourth, if the tax increase did not void BFI’s payment obligations, is BFI’s prorated share of the Freeway Transfer Station’s operational expenses (including taxes) calculated by its actual use of the facility, or is it calculated as if BFI uses 250 tons of capacity per day (even if it uses less)?

The Court will address these questions in turn.

A. Standard of Review

Summary judgment is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). A dispute over a fact is “material” only if its resolution might affect the outcome of the lawsuit under the substantive law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A dispute over a fact is “genuine” only if “the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Id.

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Bluebook (online)
867 F. Supp. 2d 1037, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46107, 2012 WL 1094457, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bfi-waste-systems-of-north-america-llc-v-freeway-transfer-inc-mnd-2012.