RedAway Forgoes Texas Medical Waste Facility Following $475K Settlement

A year-long journey to open a medical waste storage, treatment and transfer facility in Mansfield, Texas, ended last month in nearly a half million settlement between RedAway LLC and the city.

According to the settlement agreement, the city of Mansfield agreed to pay the Dallas-based RedAway $475,000 as reimbursement for a portion of the costs the company incurred while preparing for the Mansfield site. The company also agreed to revoke its bid to operate in Mansfield.

In June, the city and RedAway released a joint statement regarding the settlement.

“The City of Mansfield and the representatives of RedAway Medical Waste have reached an agreement in which the company will no longer pursue locating its operations to Mansfield. A tenant has been secured for the location and RedAway is no longer tied to the lease on the facility.”

Also among the terms of the settlement agreement, RedAway agreed to filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to withdraw its application or amend it to include the approved location to a site outside the city. Last week, the TCEQ website showed the company filed the voluntary revocation of application following the announced agreement. The status remains active.

Additionally, as part of the settlement, RedAway agreed it would not apply to the TCEQ for the right to operate a facility anywhere within Mansfield city limits. The agreement does not prevent RedAway from applying to the TCEQ to operate a facility outside the corporate limits. The city also agreed it would not interfere in the process, should the company apply for a facility outside of Mansfield.

The city also agreed to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the company in the 98th Judicial District Court of Travis County, Texas.

“Both the city and RedAway officials are pleased to have the matter resolved in the best interest of all parties involved,” the statement said.

In December 2013, RedAway filed an application with the TCEQ to operate a medical waste facility in Mansfield. Initial plans were for the facility to take medical waste, including needles and vials of non-narcotic drugs, and process for landfill disposal.

In its application, the company stated it would lease the building for the transfer and storage of nearly 50 tons of medical waste per day. The city had approved the lease at that time, but local opposition from public and government entities seemed to push the city away from RedAway’s plan.  

Among those opposed to RedAway’s plan was the Mansfield Independent School District, whose board passed a resolution against the facility saying the district has seven school sites within a 1.25-mile radius of the location. According to the August 2014 resolution, the district’s board of trustees found that RedAway’s proposed plan for the building site did not serve the needs of the public school students in the community, and that “storing and treating of up to 50 tons of medical waste, arriving daily, and the operation of vehicles transporting that waste, within 1.25 mile radius of seven current and future school sites poses an unnecessary risk to the public school students in the community.”

In February 11, 2015, the TCEQ, approved RedAway’s plan, allowing the company to operate a medical waste facility in Mansfield.

In March 12, 2015, the City and Mayor David Cook filed with the TCEQ a Motion to Overturn the Decision of the Executive Director approving the application. The motion was denied. The city and Mayor David Cook filed the Lawsuit seeking to reverse the TCEQ approval of the Registration and the denial of the Motion to Overturn.