A look at Canadian Waste Services landfill near Chatham, Ontario

The Ridge Landfill, owned by Canadian Waste Services Inc., is one of the most important landfill assets in Canada. Sitting near Chatham, Ontario on the much-traveled commercial corridor between Windsor/Detroit and Ontario cities to the east, the facility receives a significant amount of industrial, commercial and institutional (IC&I) waste from across the province, plus some garbage from nearby municipalities.



This important asset may be put up for sale due to a ruling from the federal Competition Tribunal (currently under appeal) that insufficient competition will exist without such a divestiture.



The situation has attracted interest from across the country and waste management professionals want to know more about the Ridge Landfill.



The BFI deal



In 1999, Allied Waste Industries, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, purchased all the assets of Browning Ferris Industries (BFI) in North America for the sum of US $8-billion. Subsequently, Allied Waste made a corporate decision to divest all the former BFI assets it owned in Canada.



In 2000, Canadian Waste Services (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Waste Management Inc. of Houston, Texas – the world’s largest waste management and recycling company) announced that it would purchase all the BFI assets owned by Allied Waste in Canada.



The Canadian Competition Bureau became involved upon the filing of the regulatory documents for this transaction. Discussions between the Competition Bureau and Canadian Waste ensued.



In light of these discussions a group of investors formed BFI Canada by purchasing the use of the BFI trademark in Canada from Allied Waste. The new BFI Canada also purchased certain assets about which Canadian Waste and the Competition Bureau agreed there were competition concerns. The Competition Bureau allowed the main transaction to proceed between Allied Waste and Canadian Waste for the balance of the BFI assets, except for one: the Ridge Landfill.



CWS took the position that the Ridge Landfill did not have to be divested and the Competition Bureau thought otherwise. The main transaction went ahead and a Consent Interim Order was created to deal with the differing opinions about the Ridge Landfill.



The Consent Interim Order allowed Canadian Waste to buy the landfill but required it to be held in trust and operated by an independent manager (Hugh Thomas Consulting Ltd.) and an independent monitor (Deloitte and Touche) until the disagreement with the Competition Tribunal is resolved. The litigation between Canadian Waste and the Competition Bureau continues to this day, with the Competition Bureau saying the landfill must be sold and the company arguing that it can overcome the competition problem by selling a certain amount of the landfill air space to competitors. The Deutsche Bank out of New York was retained some time ago to solicit expressions of interest in the event the landfill must be sold, but nothing has happened pending the most recent appeal (about which a decision is expected soon).



The facility & operations



The Ridge Landfill is located on a 131 hectare site enclosed by a chain-link fence. It faces two roadways and is blocked from public view by high, landscaped and treed berms. (See photo.) Trucks hauling to the site leave Highway 401 at Highway 40 traveling south. The paving of municipal roads from the main highway to the facility were paid for by the facility owner at a cost of $2-million.



Upon entering the site vehicles travel on a paved roadway to the weigh scales (which have an attached office building) that are set back to provide adequate vehicle storage. From the scales vehicles travel another paved road that runs parallel to the cell construction, then to the “working face” of the landfill on a gravel road (which is relocated as cells are developed).



An onsite maintenance building houses equipment for repairs to landfill equipment. The