Michigan landfills are charged with the duty of storing more than 42 million cubic yards of garbage every year. A new piece of legislation in the state House of Representatives could ensure the job is getting done right.
The legislation would require landfills to submit waste management plans and allow the Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, to have regular inspections of their grounds. This would ensure Michigan landfills are properly disposing of waste.
The legislation is being proposed by 11 Michigan representatives — including Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing.
"To deal with all of the waste we produce, you have to have some place to put it," he said. "If you don't plan ahead, you could find yourself in an emergency situation."
The legislation would define specific terms used in the waste management industry.
The new definitions will ensure landfills are obeying regulations, DEQ spokesman Bob McCann said.
"It provides us with the clarifications and definitions we need," he said. "It would give us better clarity of the current state of our landfills."
An important part of the legislation will allow the DEQ to inspect landfills, McCann said.
When landfills do not adhere to the rules and regulations set by the state, problems such as ground water contamination and odor can arise. The proposed legislation would ban the burning of most liquid waste as well as used oil and lead acid batteries in municipal landfills.
"They are something that if not cared for properly can pose some significant environmental risks," McCann said. "It's important that these regulations are in place to ensure we have the resources to work with these companies."
Creating waste management strategies has been a requirement of landfills in the past, but there has been no mechanism in place to make sure the task was getting done, Meadows said.
"The counties had a requirement to uphold a solid waste plan," he said. "But we found we were not getting regular updates."
Dave Smith, the city of East Lansing's environmental specialist, said the legislation will not cause them any additional stress because the city already submits a solid waste plan to the county each year.
"We see no problem in allowing the DEQ to inspect East Lansing's landfills," he said.
