Waste Management Force Majeure
March 24, 2020
Waste Management Homeowners Association Customer
RE: Notice of Force Majeure Event and/or Commercial Impracticability Preventing Full Contract Performance
Coronavirus/COVID-19 and Resulting Declarations of Emergency
Dear Valued Customer:
Waste Management – and especially its hard-working front-line employees – are working around the clock to ensure that we can continue to serve our customers and communities safely and with the least disruption reasonably possible in the face of the many challenges created by the COVID-19 virus, the resulting Declarations of Emergency, and the many health and safety orders and guidelines to which all responsible citizens are attempting to comply. As Waste Management works earnestly to continue to provide collection and processing services to our communities, the health and safety of our employees, customers and communities are our highest priority.
Likewise, Waste Management is striving to comply with the federal and state health and safety directives that have been issued in this time of emergency. One example of the operational changes implemented by Waste Management as a result of this unprecedented emergency occurred on March 18, 2020, when Waste Management temporarily closed residential call centers to promote social distancing among our call center employees to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. We are actively coordinating remote operations to serve our customers during this situation with the goal of resuming residential call handling from work-at-home employees as soon as possible. Although many of our municipal contracts require Waste Management to provide residential customer support call centers, the decision to temporarily suspend operation of these centers and shift to a work-at-home capability was the direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the states of emergency that exists.
The COVID-19 situation is very fluid, and Waste Management expects, unfortunately, that other disruptions to our contract performance may occur in the coming days as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and governmental declarations. As a result, we are providing this notice to advise you that the COVID-19 pandemic is a force majeure event under our contract and/or unforeseeable event making full contract performance commercially impractical under the present circumstances. While we have not yet experienced any significant disruptions in essential collection or processing services, we anticipate that such disruptions may be inevitable, such as:
- Quarantines at, or shutdowns of, Waste Management facilities;
- Shelter-in-place orders that impact travel and business operations;
- Shutdown of Waste Management and/or third-party recycling and
disposal facilities that restrict our ability to operate normally;
- Worker shortages because of quarantines or sickness; and
- Fuel and other critical equipment and supply shortages.
At this time, no one can reliably predict the length of this emergency event, when potential service disruptions may occur, or how long they may last. Waste Management will continue to provide prompt notice of our operational capabilities and changes as they occur. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in these challenging times. If you have any questions, please contact your Waste Management public sector representative.
Sincerely,
WASTE MANAGEMENT, INC.
Paul Bickford
Municipal Relations Manager
March 24, 2020
