Who: Cities and private businesses in Ontario

What: Ship large amounts of solid waste to Michigan landfills

Where

Why:

• Ontario's landfill regulations are very strict. Some critics contend that is practically impossible to establish a new landfill.
• A plan to ship Toronto's solid waste to an abandoned iron mine near Kirkland Lake, Ontario, was scuttled by opposition from environmentalists and native groups and by financial disagreements between the City and the landfill firm. See the Adams Mine/Toronto Garbage site.
• Michigan has a surplus of landfill space; its tipping fees (charges on each truckload of trash) are among the lowest in the nation.
• A number of Federal court decisions have established that states can not exclude waste from other states. The North American Free Trade Agreement extended that right to Canadian jurisdictions.
• In March 2004 a series of new Michigan laws was passed to limit out-of-state trash. By November 2004, five Canadian cities and the State of Wisconsin meet the laws' requirements.