Construction firm sues Spoil to Soil over unpaid work claims

A new lawsuit has pushed Spoil to Soil’s Browns Canyon fight into a financial dispute, with a construction company claiming it was not paid for work on multiple projects. The case adds a private payment battle to the broader county enforcement fight over the composting and recycling site on Lower Bowl Road, where Summit County has already accused operators of running the 44-acre property more like an illegal landfill than a permitted business.

That county case has been moving for months. The Eastern Summit County Planning Commission unanimously revoked Spoil to Soil-related conditional use permits on Aug. 21, after a 55-page staff report laid out dozens of alleged violations. County staff later documented 27 permit-related violations during the shutdown process, and the Summit County Council followed by giving the business extra time in September before ordering it in October to suspend composting operations.

The site’s defenders have argued the county action went too far. In November, Jared and Kristen Clayton and the Spoil to Soil management company sued Summit County over the shutdown. That case was dismissed in March after attorneys failed to serve the county within 120 days. Spoil to Soil then filed a new lawsuit against the county on April 15, saying the government engaged in a “pattern of escalating procedural irregularities.” County civil attorney Helen Strachan and attorney Kyle Reeder have already sparred publicly over whether the county’s process gave the landowner proper notice and due process.

The stakes reach beyond one parcel in Browns Canyon. Jared Clayton has said Spoil to Soil diverted about 75,000 tons of material from the Summit County landfill at Three Mile Canyon, helping relieve pressure on a disposal site that already faces long-term capacity constraints. Park City Community Foundation’s Zero Food Waste plan cites a 2019 county study that found roughly 80% of what goes to the landfill could be diverted, with 40% to 60% of that made up of food waste. The foundation has set a 2030 goal of fully diverting food waste from the county landfill.

Spoil to Soil also expanded its regional footprint in 2025 through a partnership with Momentum Recycling to increase food-waste composting across the Wasatch Back. That makes the new unpaid-work lawsuit more than a simple collections case. It shows the Browns Canyon conflict is now touching contractors, cash flow and operating risk, just as the county, the landowners and the company remain locked in fights over whether the site can reopen, what must be removed and how the facility was allowed to operate in the first place.