LANSING – In a move to slam the brakes on trash imports from Canada and other states, State Representative Marc Corriveau (D-Northville) 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, forcing Canada and other states to dump their trash elsewhere.
"Michigan is a beautiful place to hunt, fish and enjoy the great outdoors, it should not be a dumping ground for other people's garbage," Corriveau said. "Trash is dumped in our landfills for one reason: because it is dirt cheap to do so. A higher dumping charge will keep Canada, Ohio, New Jersey and others states from threatening our way of life in Michigan."
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.
At 21 cents per ton, Michigan currently has the lowest dumping charge of any state in the Great Lakes region. This low dumping charge acts as a magnet for Canadian and out-of-state trash. Garbage from Canada, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, New Jersey and as far away as Florida is shipped to Michigan so companies can cash in on bargain basement disposal rates.
"Increasing the dumping charge worked to slash trash imports in Pennsylvania, and it will work here," Corriveau said. "This plan is the first step in protecting our natural heritage for generations to come. Michigan is the Great Lakes State – let's take action to protect it from becoming the Great Waste State."