Moorpark OKs Transfer of Trash Contract

A Dallas-based company will have exclusive rights to collect Moorpark’s garbage, provided that a federal bankruptcy judge allows it to buy a local trash-hauling company.

The Moorpark City Council on Wednesday gave conditional approval to transferring its trash-collection contract from G.I. Industries of Simi Valley to U.S.A. Waste of Dallas. The transfer is part of the proposed sale of financially troubled G.I. Industries, which collects garbage in Moorpark, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and unincorporated sections of eastern Ventura County.

In April, a bankruptcy judge tentatively approved the sale on the condition that officials from Ventura County and the cities that G.I. Industries currently serves first agree to transfer their contracts to the buyer. Simi Valley and Ventura County have already agreed to make the change.

The Moorpark City Council attached several conditions to its unanimous approval. First, the bankruptcy court must allow the sale to be completed. U.S.A. Waste must also pay the city a “franchise transfer fee,” estimated at $80,000.

Some local officials had expressed concerns about the proposed sale after questions arose regarding the conduct of Western Waste Industries, a Torrance-based company that had originally proposed buying G.I. Industries. In May, a former Western Waste vice president pleaded guilty to failing to report a felony after he arranged to make a $150,000 payoff to a Louisiana state legislator.

U.S.A. Waste has purchased Western Waste as a wholly owned subsidiary. If the Dallas-based firm is allowed to buy G.I. Industries, current G.I. employees would report to U.S.A. Waste’s newly formed Pacific region, which is based in Torrance.