LANSING – A Canadian trash truck overturned on I-94 in St. Clair County earlier today and shut down part of the freeway during the morning rush hour, prompting State Representative Barb Byrum (D-Onondaga) to blast Republican leadership in the Senate for not acting on tough measures that would fight the flood of out-of-state and Canadian garbage.
"My colleagues and I have worked to pass a tough anti-trash plan that will stop the flood of out-of-state garbage that threatens our land, air, water and quality of life," Byrum said. "I call on my colleagues in the Senate to act on that plan, and help stop the trash. People dump here because we're cheap, and attacking the economics of the trash trade is the only way to stop the trash."
Byrum is continuing her aggressive push to pass anti-trash measures. She was a supporter of legislation – passed in May by the House and now stalled in the Senate – that bans new landfills and strictly limits the expansion of existing landfills until 2012. The House in April passed legislation attacking the economics of the trash trade by increasing the state's current paltry dumping charge of 21 cents per ton. With a steeper dumping charge, Canada and other states will be forced to dump their trash elsewhere.
The Detroit Free Press reported today that a Canadian trash truck overturned on I-94 southeast of Port Huron, and that it was not clear how long it would take emergency crews to clean up and reopen the highway.
This is not the first time that Canadian trash trucks have caused problems, threatening public safety and draining resources of road and clean-up personnel. In December 2005, a Canadian trash truck traveling westbound on I-69 flipped in Capac, dumping garbage on the highway and closing it for half an hour. In November 2005, a Canadian trash truck struck a car in Huron Township in Wayne County, killing two men. In March 2005, a Canadian truck dumped human sludge in downtown Flat Rock in Wayne County.
"Trash trucks rolling into our communities from Canada and other states put our communities at risk," Byrum said. "It's time we did the right thing. It's time we stopped the trash."