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Great Lakes
Article:
Toronto to send all trash to U.S.
By JAMES
RUSK
MUNICIPAL
AFFAIRS REPORTER
Wednesday,
December 5, 2001 – Page A20
Article courtesy of the Globe and Mail
Toronto council endorsed a contract yesterday that will
see all the city's waste flow to a giant dump in Michigan
starting in 2003.
With only two councillors dissenting, the council approved
sending all of the city's garbage destined for landfill
-- currently 1.2 million tonnes a year -- to the Carleton
Farms landfill operated by Republic Services Inc. for
the three years from 2003 to 2005.
Both Mayor Mel Lastman and Betty Disero, chairwoman of
the council's works committee, said the city had no choice
but to okay the deal with Republic, because there are
only 13 months left before the city closes its Keele Valley
landfill in Vaughan. "I hope that we end this once
and for all. You haven't got another place to ship your
garbage," Mr. Lastman said.
The approval marks the end of a four-year search for
a place to send garbage when Keele Valley closes at the
end of 2002 by order of the province, which will not let
the city further extend the dump's licence.
A year ago, after a bitter political fight, the council
approved a contract with the Rail Cycle North consortium
to send its garbage to the Adams Mine, an abandoned iron
mine near Kirkland Lake.
But the RCN deal fell apart over the legal technicalities
of the proposed contract, and the city fell back to its
second option, the Republic contract.
While the city agreed last year to send its waste to
Republic, it did not specify how much waste it would send
to the United States.
Michigan has been taking about 60 per cent of the city's
waste under two contracts, one with Republic and one,
due to expire at the end of next year, with another Michigan
landfill.
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