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Local Governments in Michigan Take Steps Against Dumping of Canadian Trash

Posted on: Saturday, 29 July 2006, 18:00 CDT

By MICHAEL HAMMOND

OTTAWA (CP) - A Michigan municipality's deal with a waste company could be the beginning of the end of the flow of Canadian trash into the United States.

By April 2007, Macomb County's deal with its landfill operator could reduce the amount of Canadian trash dumped into Michigan each year by one third, or one million tonnes. A neighbouring Michigan county is considering a similar option with its landfill operator.

If the Michigan deal goes ahead, a policy analyst says Canadian cities will be forced to develop contingency plans quickly, especially Toronto.

"If Toronto is not able to overcome legislative barriers, they will likely end up dumping somewhere else," said Mary-Jane Middelkoop, policy analyst with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

"The fact that we're shipping garbage to another country is a problem in the first place."

The Toronto area accounts for one million of the 3.5 million tonnes of garbage shipped to Michigan each year.

Macomb County's deal with its county landfill operator Waste Management Inc., a U.S. firm, limits the amount of Canadian trash to no more than 25 per cent of the total waste the landfill takes in each year. In return, the county will allow the company to expand its landfill and extend its lifespan by 20 years.

The plan also allows the county to collect 55 cents for each tonne of Canadian garbage dumped in its landfill.

The county has been quietly presenting its deal to the area's 27 cities and towns. Two-thirds must approve the plan for it to be ratified. Macomb County receives more than 40 per cent of the 3.5 million tonnes of Canadian trash shipped to Michigan each year.

Late last year, Waste Management of Canada, which ships Toronto-area trash to Michigan, outlined plans for four of its Ontario landfills that could accept Toronto's trash if the Michigan border closes. The landfills are near Sarnia, Ont., Napanee, Ont., and Ottawa.

Officials in all these areas fiercely oppose accepting garbage from the Toronto area.

Recently, Michigan's two Democratic senators introduced measures in the Senate that aimed to restrict Canadian trash at the border because of security concerns. Their proposals called for a $420 fee for each truck entering the U.S. with Canadian trash.

Although the senators' motions are not expected to pass, Macomb County commissioner Keith Rengert said he thinks his plan will withstand any free-trade challenges.

"I think it will succeed," Rengert said. "When we first came up with this, we realized this was not the silver bullet."

Rengert said the county's legal advisers believe the deal could stand up to free-trade rules since it is a contract between the county and the landfill operator.

Chris Sands, an associate with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., said federal and state legislation to block the flow of Canadian trash has failed because of partisan politics and fears over breaking trade rules.

Sands said that small steps at the local level could achieve the same goals by making the shipment of garbage unprofitable for trash haulers.

"There's no reason this problem can't be attacked at the source if this becomes a land-use issue," he said.

Middelkoop said the federal government needs to take the lead and set national goals to reduce waste. Until national goals are set, she said cities face an enormous risk of the border closing without much advanced notice.

A Michigan state legislature passed a motion that called for the border to close to Canadian trash in March. That bill, Middelkoop said, could be signed by U.S. President George W. Bush at any time.

"The border could close at any time," she said. "The bill's there on President Bush's desk."

Source: Canadian Press

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