Sludge Watch ==> Michigan - Landfill makes pact to limit Canadian trash

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Sludgewatch Admin:

The decision to refuse to Ontario sewage sludge in the Carleton Farms 
landfill was a shot across the bow of Ontario's 'made in USA' waste disposal 
plans.  In this story we see that another landfill has made a pact to limit 
the amount of Ontario trash, in order to preserve landfill capacity for 
local use.

They say they will address the sewage sludge issue later.  But this is 
another seismic rumble that Ontario needs to get a grip on where its trash 
and sewer waste is going to go.  We are rapidly spiraling into crisis mode.

Its only 45 days to August 1st....the day Toronto can no longer dump its 
sewage sludge into Michigan's Carleton Landfill.

Anyone want to start a betting pool on where the Toronto sludge will go?

................................................................................................................

County officials reach deal on limiting Canadian trash

Two-thirds of the communities in the county must approve the agreement

PUBLISHED: June 15, 2006

By Chad Selweski
Macomb Daily Staff Writer

County officials forged a "milestone" agreement Tuesday to gradually limit 
the 350 trucks of daily Canadian trash rolling into the Pine Tree Acres 
landfill near New Haven.
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The pact with Waste Management, the company that operates the Lenox Township 
garbage dump, was approved on an 18-6 vote of the Board of Commissioners. 
The agreement would slow the Canadian caravan by limiting cross-border trash 
to 25 percent of landfill space in exchange for an expansion of the facility 
from 565 acres to 755 acres. It would also guarantee space for Macomb 
County's trash at Pine Tree Acres for at least 25 years.

In the coming weeks, the proposed "county host agreement" faces approval 
from Macomb's 27 cities, townships and villages. Two-thirds of the 
municipalities must approve the agreement for it to take effect. The company 
praised the commissioners' decision but cautioned that it's only an 
"important step" in a lengthy process.

County Commissioner Keith Rengert said the accord struck with the company 
succeeds where years of legislative efforts by state and federal officials 
have failed.

"Right now, we have zero control, because of the (North American) Free Trade 
Agreement, over that landfill. We have zero control over what comes into 
that landfill," said Rengert, a Richmond Township Republican. "This is head 
and shoulders over anything else that can be done. This is something we can 
do."

The proposed contract, three years in the making, wouldn't immediately 
reduce the 5.3 million cubic yards of annual trash imports that make Pine 
Tree Acres the busiest landfill in Michigan and the state's top destination 
for Ontario refuse. The intent is to force a long-term reduction.

Currently, nearly 80 percent of the trash flowing into the site - about 350 
trucks per day - comes from across the border. Some projections had 
indicated the landfill could run out of space within five years, due to the 
growing volume of Canadian garbage buried there. The facility was intended 
to handle all of the county's waste until at least 2021.

Critics say the agreement, by limiting 25 percent of the landfill -- or 189 
acres -- to Canadian trash, still falls far short of expectations.

"The 25 percent guarantees nothing," said Commissioner Brian Brdak, a New 
Baltimore Democrat whose district includes the landfill. "Once that's filled 
up, who's to say that Waste Management won't start taking out-of-state 
trash, from Indiana or Ohio or Pennsylvania?"

A proposed Brdak amendment, to prevent Pine Tree Acres from accepting 
shipments of out-of-county sewer sludge, was rejected by the county board.

Critics said the proposed revision to the pact would hold up the process by 
requiring more negotiations, and Lenox Township Supervisor John Gardner, who 
was in attendance, agreed. The Lenox Township board has unanimously endorsed 
the agreement.

Waste Management officials said the issue of sludge, derived from human 
waste, can be addressed in the future.

"Sludge has always come into Pine Tree Acres landfill and currently comes in 
as part of the everyday waste stream," said Tom Horton, government affairs 
manager for Waste Management of Michigan. "Waste Management's willingness to 
sit down and discuss the issue reflects a desire on our part to be 
responsive to commissioners' concerns."

The final wording of the accord includes recent amendments proposed by the 
commissioners that would allow the county to conduct independent monitoring 
of the company's activities, ensuring that the 25 percent limit is met. The 
accord also provides penalties if Waste Management fails to comply.

Under the timetable required to receive final approval, the proposed 
contract may not take effect for a year or more. The 13-page agreement, an 
amendment to the county's solid waste plan, faces approval from the county 
Solid Waste Planning Committee, two-thirds of the communities and the state 
Department of Environmental Quality.

The DEQ has praised the agreement, which is unique to Michigan, calling it a 
"step in the right direction."

County board Chairwoman Nancy White praised the pact as a "milestone" and 
said officials from across southeast Michigan have been awaiting the board's 
vote on the issue. She said many counties may want to copy Macomb's approach 
to the Canadian trash problem.

The weakness of the pact, Rengert conceded, is that it won't immediately 
reduce the number of Canadian trash trucks flowing into Macomb County. 
That's because the restrictions apply not to trucks but to overall landfill 
space -- limiting Canadian garbage to one-fourth of Pine Tree Acres' 
long-term capacity, or 189 acres.

Waste Management could respond by gradually reducing the amount of trash 
accepted from Canada, or it could continue at the current rate and face a 
cutoff of all Canadian waste in approximately six years. The company hopes 
to eventually win approval for two new landfills in Ontario.

As for the expansion in Lenox Township, the additional property is already 
owned by Waste Management. It would "square off" the site so that the 
landfill would encompass all of the land between 28 Mile and 29 Mile roads, 
just east of Gratiot, and extending west to a residential area on County 
Line Road.

Waste Management has also agreed to pay the county 55 cents per ton for 
out-of-state waste buried there, which could generate nearly $1 million a 
year. The revenues from this "capacity fee" could fund environmental 
protection services or recycling programs.

Waste Management, a waste disposal giant that operates throughout the United 
States and Canada, ships trash from the Toronto suburbs and small Ontario 
towns to Lenox Township on a daily basis. The trucks travel to and from the 
facility via the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, I-94 and Gratiot Avenue.

The volume of imported trash disposed at Pine Tree Acres has more than 
tripled since 2002.

Last year, the landfill handled enough Ontario refuse to fill nearly 1,000 
football fields with garbage stacked three feet high. Waste Management 
officials say a compacting process reduces that volume by one third, and 
emerging technologies could extend the life of Pine Tree Acres for several 
decades

http://www.macombdaily.com/stories/061506/loc_trash001.shtml