Glenwillow Landfill, Inc. v. City of Akron, Ohio

485 F. Supp. 671, 14 ERC (BNA) 1013, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7885
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedDecember 19, 1979
DocketCiv. A. C78-65A, C78-1733A
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 485 F. Supp. 671 (Glenwillow Landfill, Inc. v. City of Akron, Ohio) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Glenwillow Landfill, Inc. v. City of Akron, Ohio, 485 F. Supp. 671, 14 ERC (BNA) 1013, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7885 (N.D. Ohio 1979).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

CONTIE, District Judge.

In December 1976, the City of Akron, Summit County, and the Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA) entered into a cooperative agreement to enable the OWDA to sell $46,000,000 worth of revenue bonds so the City could develop a recycle energy system. To fulfill its obligations under the agreement, the City enacted Ordinance No. 846-1976. The plaintiffs in these two cases allege that certain covenants of the cooperative agreement and the ordinance are illegal because: they deprive plaintiffs of due process of law under the fourteenth amendment; 1 they take property in violation of the fifth amendment to the United States Constitution as applied to the states through the fourteertth amendment; they restrain interstate commerce in violation of Article I, section 8 of the Constitution; they violate Article 18, section 3 of the Ohio Constitution; and they violate sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1-2. The plaintiffs seek declara *674 tory and injunctive relief, and an award of attorney’s fees.

The Court has jurisdiction of the action under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1337 and 2201. The parties ask the Court to exercise pendent jurisdiction over the state law claim. Venue is proper in this district under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), 15 U.S.C. §§ 15, 22. The Court duly heard testimony and received exhibits on May 14, 15, 16,17, and 18,1979. The following shall constitute the Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law in accordance with Rule 52, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

I. FACTS

The parties have stipulated to the great proportion of the relevant facts. 2 Paragraphs 1 through 50 and 90 through 92 of the pre-trial stipulation are incorporated herein as Appendix A. The remaining portion of the stipulation, paragraphs 51 through 89 and part of paragraph 5, is incorporated herein as Appendix B. 3 The stipulation entered into at trial, paragraphs 4 through 13 of the Ohio Water Development Authority’s proposed findings of fact, is incorporated herein as Appendix C. In addition the Court finds, the following facts: 4

1. The city built the RES to solve its solid waste disposal problem. A number of factors, including Ohio Edison’s desire to stop generating steam for the downtown business district, caused the city to decide the RES was the best alternative available to solve the waste disposal problem.

2. The underwriters decided it was necessary to assure a supply of waste to the RES in order to market the revenue bonds. After learning this the city and the OWDA concluded that it would be necessary to require that all waste collected within the city limits would be taken to the RES.

A. Sherman Act

When both constitutional and statutory violations are alleged it is preferable for the Court to consider the statutory questions first, thus avoiding advisory opinions on constitutional issues if possible. Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 297 U.S. 288, 346-47, 56 S.Ct. 466, 80 L.Ed. 688 (1936) (Brandeis, J., concurring). This Court will, therefore, first consider the alleged antitrust violations.

Initially the Court must consider whether the plaintiffs have standing to challenge the covenants and the ordinance on antitrust grounds. The defendants argue that the plaintiffs lack standing to attack the legality of the covenants because the covenants by themselves have no force or effect and cause the plaintiffs no injury in fact. See Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 498-99, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975); Simon v. Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Organization, 426 U.S. 26, 38, 96 S.Ct. 1917, 48 L.Ed.2d 450 (1976). But the plaintiffs’ antitrust claims include allegations of conspiracy.

Under the Sherman Act an agreement in restraint of trade is illegal. Proof of the actual effect on commerce caused by *675 the conspiracy is not always required to establish a violation of the statute. E. g., United States v. Socony-Vacunm Oil Co., 310 U.S. 150, 60 S.Ct. 811, 84 L.Ed. 1129 (1940). The cooperative agreement is arguably evidence of an illegal conspiracy in restraint of trade which may be illegal under the Sherman Act without proof of its actual effects. Therefore the Court does not believe that the plaintiffs must show injury in fact caused by the covenants to raise the Sherman Act claims. Furthermore, the enforcement of the ordinance will subject the plaintiffs who collect solid waste within the city to potential criminal penalties if they violate its terms. If injury in fact was a requirement to assert the Sherman Act claims the waste collectors would still have standing to challenge the defendants’ agreement under the Sherman Act: they were injured by the ordinance that was enacted pursuant to the covenants of the cooperative agreement. 5

Regarding the substance of the plaintiffs’ antitrust claims, the defendants argue that their conduct is exempt from the operation of the Sherman Act under Parker v. Brown, 317 U.S. 341, 63 S.Ct. 307, 87 L.Ed. 315 (1943), and its progeny. In Parker a California raisin grower challenged the California prorate program under the Sherman Act. 6 The Supreme Court assumed that the program would violate the Sherman Act if it was organized and made effective solely by an agreement between private parties. The act, however, derived its force and effect from the legislative command of the state. The Supreme Court found

nothing in the language of the Sherman Act or in its history which suggests that its purpose was to restrain a state or its officers or agents from activities directed by its legislature.

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Bluebook (online)
485 F. Supp. 671, 14 ERC (BNA) 1013, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7885, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/glenwillow-landfill-inc-v-city-of-akron-ohio-ohnd-1979.