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SAULT STE. MARIE - While an increase in efforts to recycle in Michigan have lowered the amount of consumer waste being sent into landfills in recent years, the practice of importing trash has not. And with an estimated 17 years of landfill space left, residents are banding together to voice their opposition to the practice of taking on other states' trash.
In an effort to raise awareness about the issue, more than 20 demonstrators representing local environmental groups gathered on the campus of Lake Superior State University on Tuesday, April 18 demanding action from the Michigan legislature. The group stood with the International Bridge as a backdrop to the demonstration, pointing out that Canadian waste makes the trek across the bridge daily only to roost 15 miles away in the Dafter Landfill.
"In 2005, 6.2 million tons of trash crossed our borders," said Bonnie Skoryanc, addressing the crowd. "More than 100,000 tons came across in 2004. You can see where this is going."
With new landfill expansions already in the works across the state, environmentalists and politicians, including State Representative Gary McDowell, D-Rudyard, are calling on the state to unite in the garbage fight. The most recent political battle came to a head when the landfill moratorium expired on Dec. 31, 2005. Since that time more than five applications have been filed with the state for new or expanded landfill areas.
Skorynac said the state should look to the future when creating policies, not just the present.
"When Bay Mills Indian Community plans for the future, they look forward to the seventh generation," she said. "I think that's how we should plan. Not for us or our children, but for future generations."
Annie Goetz of Tri-Copc, Inc., a pollution watchdog group that formed in the 1970s with the creation of the Dafter landfill, asked those in attendance to support HB 5773 and encourage their politicians to work to bring the issue of importing garbage to the House floor.
And with the issue currently at a standstill, Diane Meyer of the Sierra Club encouraged those in attendance to do their part in reducing waste by recycling.
"Thank you to the citizens that take advantage of these facilities," she said. "Recycling takes an effort, but it is worth it. This isn't a partisan issue, this is an environmental issue. We need to slow the rate at which we are filling our landfills."
Currently 30 percent of landfill waste in Michigan is derived from importing from other states and Canada. The Upper Peninsula takes in trash from both Wisconsin and Ontario. Efforts to raise the dumping rate have only floundered and Michigan is currently still one of the three cheapest states to send garbage to.
On March 13 Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed into law a plan that lets Michigan stop Canadian trash only if Congress gives Michigan such authority - something that has never happened. The plan also targets only Canadian and not out-of-state trash.
