Trash Hauler to Stop Santa Clarita Pickups

A trash hauling company that was ordered to stop seeking and serving customers in Santa Clarita is discontinuing operations in the city this week, prompting officials to ask three other companies with city franchises to pick up the slack.

City officials said Waste Management Inc. of North America has announced that its San Fernando Valley-based division will no longer serve more than 600 customers in Santa Clarita after this week.

In July, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald M. Sohigian ordered the company to stop soliciting customers in Santa Clarita, agreeing with city attorneys who argued that Waste Management was violating a city ordinance that gave three local companies the exclusive rights to dispose of residential trash in the city. In September, the judge ordered the company to give up the customers it already had.

City spokeswoman Gail Foy said the three franchise holders, Atlas, Blue Barrel and Santa Clarita Disposal, will begin picking up the trash of the Waste Management customers, but those customers are being asked to formally sign up with the trash hauler assigned to their street as soon as possible.

Waste Management officials could not be reached for comment. After the franchises were awarded to the three other companies in February, Waste Management officials had argued that the agreement unfairly excluded the firm from the city.