Carey Hamilton, the executive director of the IRC, said they wanted to use its annual conference at the Indianapolis Marriott East hotel to remind its supporters and Indianapolis residents that the city’s $120 million contract with Convanta was “not a done deal.”

“We took this opportunity with our annual conference in Indianapolis to raise the issue back up,” Hamilton said. “The contract is actually in litigation. Most people don’t know that. So this is not a done deal.”

But the legal challenge ahead could pose some difficulty for those opposed to the contract. Two paper companies and a private citizen lost a lawsuit it filed against the city, alleging that Mayor Greg Ballard’s administration did not “follow the proper procedure” and failed to hold a public bidding process before awarding its contract to Covanta.