Garbage hurricane heading for Ontario

naction mingled with

assurances that nothing bad is likely to

happen are no substitute for a well- planned emergency response. If you doubt that, just ask folks in New Orleans.

Yet hoping for the best, and a troubling refusal to make hard decisions, has characterized Ontario’s response to a looming garbage crisis threatening to rock this province. Perhaps the worst won’t happen, and Ontarians won’t suddenly be stuck with millions of tonnes of stinking trash with nowhere to put it.

Prudence, however, demands a province- wide plan. And it is up to Premier Dalton McGuinty’s government to rise above its inaction and deliver one.

Just as hurricanes grow beyond the horizon, far offshore, Ontario’s garbage crisis is brewing outside this country, in Michigan. Residents there are understandably fed up with having their state swallow a rising flood of Canadian trash.

Toronto alone sends 750,000 tonnes of rubbish south of the border each year — about 120 tractor-trailers full every day. Communities in York, Peel and Durham ship another 400,000 tonnes, and Ontario’s business sector trucks across a hefty 2.5 million tonnes yearly.

Michigan legislators, evidently

Ilistening to their constituents, have passed a measure that would ban dumping our trash in their state after only a 90- day warning. Thankfully, no ban can go into effect without U. S. federal approval granting states the right to regulate foreign trash. But Congress is expected to consider the issue soon. That raises the unsettling prospect of Toronto and other parts of Ontario being stuck with the unwholesome challenge of finding a place for our unending torrent of garbage.

There are options, though.

Toronto, York, Peel and Durham have commissioned a report identifying existing Ontario landfills that could swallow their waste. Consultants identified several municipal sites, including dumps in Halton, Brantford and Waterloo, and privately owned landfills such as Taro East, near Hamilton. Together they could handle the local load. But they don’t want to.

Brantford has a bylaw banning trash from other municipalities and Mayor Mike Hancock has a succinct message for outsiders seeking to dump here: “ Over my dead body.” Hamilton Mayor Larry Di Ianni and Halton Regional Chair Joyce Savoline have both vowed to fight taking Toronto’s waste.

In fact, few, if any, communities in Ontario are likely to welcome the rubbish now pouring into Michigan. And any small dump that did so would likely be fast overwhelmed by the sheer volume of that flow. The report listing possible backup dumps if Michigan were closed was sent to the province almost eight months ago, but Queen’s Park has failed to turn it into a viable action plan. That would require some hard choices and generate unpleasant complaints. McGuinty is taking an easier road. He has downplayed the risk of a trash crisis, noting that Michigan sends some toxic waste to Sarnia for disposal and that U. S. lawmakers may think twice before messing with that.

In addition, the operator of the private dump in Michigan taking our waste is obligated — by contract — to find an alternative landfill site in the United States should the state turn hostile. The prospect of going to court is hardly assuring. A very real chance remains that the worst might happen and Ontario will be stuck with tonnes of excess trash. The province is shirking its duty by failing to plan for that nasty contingency. Only Queen’s Park has the power to override local bans keeping Toronto trash from landfill sites. It must decide now — before a crisis hits — how it will proceed.