Allan Gerlat, News Editor

March 1, 2012

1 Min Read
Dallas Appeals Waste Flow Control Ruling

The city of Dallas has appealed a U.S. District Court’s ruling halting its flow control law.

In late January Judge Reed O’Connor granted the request by the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) and several private haulers for a preliminary injunction against the law, which Dallas passed in late September to direct all the city’s waste to its McCommas Bluff landfill.

The city filed papers for the appeal Feb. 29.

In granting the injunction, Judge O'Connor said that the flow control law would substantially hurt the disposal business of the city’s franchised haulers with the loss of landfill revenue, and higher transportation costs and tipping fees. He also concluded the city enacted the law to raise revenue.

Based on the evidence, O'Connor said in the opinion the "plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their contract clause claim."

After Dallas passed the law the NSWMA and several other parties filed a suit to block it, saying it is anti-free enterprise and would discourage recycling.

About the Author(s)

Allan Gerlat

News Editor, Waste360

Allan Gerlat joined the Waste360 staff in September 2011 as news editor. He was the editor of Waste & Recycling News for the first 16 years of its history, and under his guidance the publication won 27 national and regional awards.

Before Waste & Recycling News, Allan worked at another Crain Communications publication, Rubber & Plastics News, which covers rubber product manufacturing. He began with the publication as associate editor and eventually became managing editor, a position he held for nine years.

Allan is a graduate of Ohio University, where he earned a BS in journalism. He is based in Sagamore Hills, in northeast Ohio.

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