Sludge Watch ==> Deadline for Toronto sludge - new border security for trash?

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1154296209319&col=968705899037&call_page=TS_Ontario&call_pageid=968256289824&call_pagepath=News/Ontario

Deadline looms for Toronto's sludge
Jul. 30, 2006. 07:19 PM
CANADIAN PRESS


With only a day to go before truckloads of treated sewage sludge from 
Toronto will be turned away from a Michigan landfill, waste managers in 
Canada's largest city were scrambling to find a home for the remaining 
90,000 tonnes of the stinky, gooey substance.

Two Quebec composting companies have already agreed to take about half of 
the city's 160,000 tonnes of sludge.

Public Works Department spokesman Ryan Merkley said Sunday more such deals 
could be announced anytime. But it's possible the city will still be seeking 
alternatives for the sludge after the Tuesday deadline.

"We've always said it's going to be down to the wire and probably across the 
wire," he said.

The city could temporarily handle some of the sludge at its sewage treatment 
plant at Ashbridges Bay, Merkley said.

"We'll manage over the Aug. 1 deadline, if we don't find a home for all of 
the sludge," he said. "But staff are confident that they are going to come 
up with as much contingency as they can."

Negotiations are ongoing with the Green Lane landfill in London, Ont., to 
take some of the sludge. Terratec Environmental, which is under contract 
with the city to spread the treated sludge on agricultural fields, has been 
asked to aggressively pursue new sites.

Lawyers for the city and Republic Services Inc., the owner of the 
Detroit-area Carelton Farms landfill, are scheduled to argue in court 
whether Republic has an obligation to find a place for Toronto's sludge at 
one of its other sites.

But looming over this argument are other developments south of the border 
that signal that all 3.5 million tonnes of Canadian trash, of which Toronto 
makes up one million, may not be welcome in Michigan much longer.

U.S. border patrol surprised truckers of municipal waste when it gave three 
weeks notice they would implement a new security system for granting trucks 
clearance before they physically cross the border.

Border patrol planned to implement the Pre-arrival Processing System (PAPS) 
July 31, but granted a one-month extension to Sept. 1.

Truckers had known the change was coming, but had no hard date until 
recently, Ontario Trucking Association president David Bradley told trade 
journal Today's Trucking, adding the July deadline was not practical.

The move came as Michigan legislators call Canadian trash a security threat.

They have introduced measures in the Senate aimed at restricting Canadian 
trash at the border by levying a $420 inspection fee for each truck entering 
the U.S. and requiring U.S. Customs and Border Protection to review its 
screening process for municipal solid waste.

The bill still needs approval from the House of Representatives to become 
law.

Michigan municipality Macomb County has struck a deal with its landfill 
operator Waste Management Inc., that limits the amount of Canadian trash at 
the landfill to no more than 25 per cent of its total waste each year. In 
return, the company can expand its landfill and extend its lifespan by 20 
years.

The plan needs the approval of two-thirds of the county's cities and towns. 
Macomb County receives more than 40 per cent of the Canadian trash shipped 
to Michigan each year.

Toronto makes up one million tonnes with the municipalities of Peel, Durham 
and York also trucking trash across the border.

A motion passed in the Michigan state legislature to close the border needs 
approval by U.S. President George W. Bush.