LANSING – State Representative Robert Dean (D-Grand Rapids) today voted in support of a landmark landfill moratorium that is part of the aggressive Democratic plan to crack down on Canadian and out-of-state trash. The plan limits the expansion of existing landfills and bans new ones.
"Michigan is not the nation's dumping ground," Dean said. "Today's vote will put an end to Canada and other states using up our landfill space. Imported garbage threatens our land, our air and our water, as well as our communities. This is the right thing to do for Michigan."
The legislation bans new landfills and strictly limits the expansion of existing landfills until 2012. An existing landfill could expand only if it falls to less than three years of remaining capacity. The maximum expansion allowed would be eight years of new capacity. The state has an estimated 18 years of disposal capacity remaining.
The House last month increased the state's dumping charge from 21 cents to $7.50 per ton.
Canadian and out-of-state trash accounts for more than 30 percent of the total waste dumped into Michigan's landfills. Canada and other states dumped 6.3 million tons of trash in our state in 2006, according to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
The plan now heads to the Senate.
"I urge my colleagues in the state Senate to move quickly and pass this plan," Dean said. "Michigan landfills should be used for Michigan trash. Canada and other states dump here because we're cheap and we have an abundance of landfill space. Today's vote will put the brakes on those trash trucks and keep Michigan from becoming the Great Waste State."