LANSING -- Something in Michigan smells and it isn't our trash.

The Toronto Works Committee wants to exercise an option in its contract with Wayne County's Republic Carleton Farms landfill to increase the amount of trash the city ships to Michigan.

The discussion came after Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus sent a letter to committee chair Betty Discro that Michigan doesn't want your trash.

"The bottom line," Posthumus said, " is that Michigan prepared to meet its waste disposal needs and Toronto didn't. Now, the capacity of Michigan landfills, the smooth flow of goods and services across our border with Canada that is vital to Michigan's economy and our ongoing efforts to keep our borders safe and secure will all be negatively impacted because of an influx of trash from Toronto."

Currently, approximately 32 trucks a day cross the Blue Water Bridge between Port Huron and Sarnia, Ont., bringing 300,000 tons of waste a year to the state.

If the Toronto City Council approves the recommendation, the amount of trash could increase up to 500,000 additional tons a year.

But, Matt Neely, area president for Florida-based Republic Services Inc., which owns the landfill in Sumpter Township, said this is a local issue and state officials have no control over it.

In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states have no authority to limit the importation of trash without congressional consent.

And since then, congressional leaders like Democratic House Whip David Bonior have been working to give states this right.

On August 1, Bonior, D-Mt. Clemens, testified before the House Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials in support of a bill that would ban out-of-state and Canadian trash.

"We have the most progressive bottle return bill in the country, we've banned PCBs and oil drilling in the Great Lakes only to have garbage trucks from other states and Canada dump their waste on our open spaces," Bonior said. "Michigan is no one's dumping ground and it's time that we stopped treating it like one."

Both Bonior and Posthumus are running for their party's 2002 nomination for governor.

Neely said the contract with Toronto wouldn't continue without the positive relationship the company has with its host community. "They have been very pleased with us."

Sumpter Township receives a $1.50 royalty for every ton of Toronto trash or sewage sludge it receives, which is about $45,000 yearly.

Security is a main concern of opponents of the arrangement.

"What really drew this to the attention of the lieutenant governor was the closing of the bridges and tunnels after Sept. 11. Before Sept. 11, it was a quality issue and now we see a need for heighten security," said Matt Resch, the governor's deputy press secretary.

But Neely said the trash goes through several compacting processes that would make it impossible for any type of terrorist attack to be brought into Michigan through the garbage. "There's really no way you could have a security issue with a garbage truck."

© 2001, Capital News Service, Michigan State University School of Journalism