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 Representatives Frank Accavitti (D-Eastpointe) and Fred Miller (D-Mount Clemens) to blast the Republican leadership in the Senate for not acting on tough measures that would fight the flood of out-of-state and Canadian garbage.
"Why should our communities pay the price when garbage haulers invade our state?" Accavitti said. "We can't stand by as the Great LakesState is exploited by Canadian and out-of-state trash trucks that come to Michigan because it is so cheap to dump trash here."
House Democrats sponsored 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 Senate has to stop stonewalling our tough anti-trash plan," Miller said. "By banning new landfills, we will protect our land, air, water and quality of life."
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.