Canadian Waste in Michigan

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Canadian Waste in Michigan

In 1986, a waste treaty between Canada and the U.S. was signed by American lawmakers concerning the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste. Under the terms of this treaty, the EPA is to receive notification of these shipments, and then would have 30 days to consent or object to the shipment. Since 1986 Canada has shipped its garbage to Michigan to be dumped into landfills and the provisions of this treaty have never been enforced. But now is the time for them to be enforced and stop the importing of Canada's garbage.

As of January 1, 2003, the Canadian city of Toronto, Ontario started to ship one hundred percent of its garbage into the landfills of Michigan. In 2003, Toronto exported garbage at a rate of 7.2 tons per minute. Garbage trucks from Toronto run seven days a week twenty-four hours a day, so at the rate of 7.2 tons per minute it works out to be that Michigan imports 10,368 tons of Toronto's garbage per day. But it wasn't always like this, Governor John Engler and his administration turned garbage into a growth industry. The state lowered the liability standards for landfill owners and also provided tax-free financing for new facilities. The result of these changes lead to too many landfills and not enough garbage to fill them. So the landfill owners lowered their prices and searched even harder for garbage. Today, Michigan's private landfills charge ten to fifteen dollars per ton to dump while other landfill owners in neighboring states charge twenty five to fifty dollars per ton. Toronto did the math and realized that it is cheaper to haul its garbage 300 miles and dump it in Michigan then it is to dump it close to home. And on top of that, Michigan has eliminated funds fo...

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...g prematurely destroyed by trucks hauling garbage that is not ours. It is our water and air that is being polluted by the hundreds of Canada's garbage trucks and millions of tons of Canada's garbage. We will soon no longer need Canada to dispose of hazardous waste due to the proposition of using the Yucca Mountains in Nevada as a dump site. And as for saying that Canada's garbage is cleaner than ours, who cares it is still garbage. The U.S. needs now more than ever to enforce the treaty that was signed in 1986. Since January 1, 2001, there has been a 40% increase in the amount of garbage that is being imported from Toronto. Michigan should not be the dumpsite for another countries garbage. Michigan's air and water are being polluted by garbage that is not ours. American lawmakers need to stop the two-way street that is destroying the Great Lakes state.

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