By Staff
U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Carl Levin, D-Mich. Thursday announced an agreement with Ontario officials to stop shipments of municipal solid waste to Michigan over the next four years.
Under terms of the Stabenow-Levin agreement, there will be an immediate 20-percent reduction of Canadian trash within the first year, a 40-percent reduction within two years and a complete end to these shipments within four years.
The senators were joined in the Washington announcement by U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., who has led bipartisan efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives to pass legislation addressing the issue of Canadian trash.
"We finally have a clear plan of action to stop the trash from Canada," Stabenow said. "Since 2003, more than 175,000 Michigan citizens have signed my petition to stop these trash shipments. Today's agreement is a great victory for them and for every Michigan citizen. I want to thank the government of Ontario for coming to the table and working with us on this commitment to end the trash once and for all."
"Ontario has been a great neighbor to Michigan, with one inexcusable exception: every day Ontario dumps its trash in our state," Levin said. "This agreement is not only great news for Michigan's environment and security, but it removes this necessary burden from an otherwise superb relationship."
"I commend Sens. Stabenow and Levin," Dingell said. "The Bush administration and the Republicans in Congress have had man y years and numerous opportunities to address this problem, both through legislation and by implementing a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Canada already on the books from 1992, and they have done nothing. Sens. Stabenow and Levin took the matter into their own hands and have worked out a commitment that is good for the people of Michigan, and their success is, without a doubt much better than any other action so far. I am proud of their hard work."
Stabenow and Levin received a commitment from Ontario's minister of the environment, Laurel Broten, that shipments of Canadian municipal solid waste will be phased out over a four-year schedule.
The lawmakers said the plan has the full support of the City of Toronto and other key regions currently shipping their trash to Michigan.
Ontario's municipalities have also agreed to find alternative waste management options in Canada and not to renew their existing contracts with Michigan landfills beyond 2010.
As long as the Canadians meet the terms of this commitment, Stabenow and Levin have agreed they will not pursue passage of the amendments they included in this year's homeland security appropriations bill.
Every day, approximately 350 trucks carrying municipal solid waste cross the border from Canada on their way to Michigan landfills.
According to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Canadian trash made up 19 percent of all trash dumped in Michigan landfills last year.
The Stabenow -Levin agreement will stop more than 2.78 million metric tons of Canadian trash from coming into Michigan over the next four years.
From Oakland County, Sheriff Mike Bouchard, candidate for U.S. Senate, commented, "I'm in favor of ending Canadian trash, but we need a lasting solution to end the problem. An election-year promise from a Canadian bureaucrat does not give Michigan definitive authority to stop trash. I am particularly concerned that the senator may have made a promise which could kill meaningful legislation expected to pass the House next week.
"Outsourcing responsibility will not stop Canada's trash from filling Michigan's landfills. Sen. Debbie Stabenow has been in Washington for 10 years and has yet to get any results on this issue," Bouchard said.
Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm welcomed Thursday's announcement by Stabenow and Levin that they have successfully secured commitments from the Ontario Minister of Environment and Canadian municipal authorities to phase out municipal solid waste shipments to Michigan.
"This innovative agreement frees us from years of Washington gridlock and jump starts our ability to preserve open space, protect our environment and stop road damage," said Granholm. "We will no longer have to be used as Canada's trash can."
Granholm has signed 14 pieces of state legislation to limit and stop Canadian waste from being dumped in Michigan, but the federal government's failure to enforce a 1992 bilateral waste agreement with Canada has allowed Canadian waste disposal in Michigan to increase by more than 300 percent over the last decade.
In June 2005, Granholm wrote to Congress in support of H.R. 2491, the International Solid Waste Importation and Management Act of 2005, bipartisan legislation to give states control over the acceptance and management of foreign trash.
The House reportedly will vote next week on this legislation.
"I hope Congress passes this legislation. However, the Bush administration has failed to stand up to foreign trash peddlers, and we have no assurance the president would sign this bill into law. Our senators' plan breaks the gridlock, protects Michigan communities and gets us real results," said Granholm, who was to visit Albion today.