LANSING – In a move to slam the brakes on trash imports from Canada and other states, State Representative John Espinoza (D-Croswell) today voted to pass legislation that will attack the economics of the trash trade by increasing the state's paltry dumping charge from 21 cents to $7.50 per ton. Michigan's dumping charge will now be the highest in the region, rather than the lowest.
According to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Canada and other states dumped 6.3 million tons of trash in our state in 2006, up from 6.2 million tons in 2005. Canadian and out-of-state trash now accounts for more than 30 percent of total waste landfilled in Michigan. In 1996, Canada and other states dumped 1.9 million tons of trash, about 13 percent of trash in Michigan.
Trash trucks from Canada and other states harm Michigan's roads and threaten the safety of our motorists. They have been caught with radioactive medical waste, illegal drugs and biomedical human waste. They also have been involved in many accidents, including dumping human sewage in the middle of communities.
Espinoza, who has long been a leader in the fight to stop Canadian trash imports, pointed out that a crash involving two Canadian trash trucks earlier this year on Interstate 69 cost thousands of dollars to clean up and occupied police and fire officials for days. His district includes the Blue Water Bridge, a main entry-point for trash from Canada.
"We cannot afford to spend our resources cleaning up other people's messes," Espinoza said. "We have to take down the welcome sign for this endless flow of trucks bringing millions of tons of trash into our state from other states and Canada. Increasing the dumping charge eliminates the financial incentive that attracts trash haulers. This change will help ensure that Michigan remains the Great Lakes State, not the Great Waste State."