Unfortunately, it's not just a few garbage trucks coming across the border Monday through Friday. Port Huron sees approximately 280 trucks each day and Detroit has 35 trucks crossing the border each day.

All of the MUW trucks, passenger cars, and other cargo trucks pass through radiation portals as they cross the border. These portals are capable of detecting both gamma and neutron radiation sources. The ports also have gamma x-ray units that CBP officers use to inspect the trucks. In the last year there have been 81 penalties issued in Port Huron and 11 penalties issued in Detroit against carriers for transporting medical waste material that was not properly manifested. These trucks are refused entry into the United States and are returned to Canada.

The inspection
A representative number of the trash trucks are inspected at the landfills. CBP officers escort the trucks to the landfill and inspect the contents when it's unloaded. Officers are provided with rubber boots that have steel shanks in the bottom to prevent punctures. The officers also wear hard hats, goggles, cloth aprons, gloves, and particle masks. Detroit's officers have disposable jump suits to wear to these landfill sites and they use various types of probes with "claw" extensions to move the trash when doing inspections. The officers are not expected to walk in the trash.

Narcotics
Not only do trucks filled with garbage smell bad; smugglers seem to think that packing extra items in the trash is an ideal way to get illegal things into this country. For instance, in September 2003, after the gamma x-ray unit spotted an anomaly inside a truck, officers at Port Huron found 32 garbage bags and 27 hockey bags filled with marijuana with a total weight of 1,910 pounds. On the street that much marijuana would bring in approximately $9 million.

Hazardous waste
In September 2003, a garbage truck heading from Toronto to Wayne County was on fire when it attempted to cross the Blue Water Bridge at Port Huron. The fire required 8,000 gallons of water and one and a half hours to put out. In addition to the time and materials spent to put out the fire, a large amount of hazardous and toxic waste was expelled. The same truck returned five hours later and tried to cross the border again, this time leaking wet garbage all over the bridge, which had to be cleaned up by HAZMAT crews in Port Huron.

In October 2003, a Canadian trash truck from Toronto was denied entry into Michigan because it contained broken bags of untreated blood and hospital waste. The truck was literally dripping blood and leaking contaminants.

Legislative issues
The garbage outcry began in January 2003, when Toronto began sending all its trash to Michigan. More than 60 percent of the 15.5 million cubic yards of waste that Michigan received from out of state during Fiscal Year 2003 came from Canada.

Dave Dempsey of the Michigan Environmental Council in Lansing said the state should focus its effort on getting Congress to restrict the amount of trash coming into a state. A 1992 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court said states don't have the right to refuse waste.

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm signed a series of bills into law on March 26. The laws will restrict the types of out-of-state trash that Michigan land fills can accept. The main bill forbids trash from places that do not ban the same items from the waste stream that Michigan does. Other bills included measures to allow the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to halt any out-of-state waste if it poses a threat to public health, increasing the fine for repeat violations of solid waste laws, and adding returnable beverage containers to the list of items banned from the waste stream.

Even though Governor Granholm signed the new laws it may still be a long time until the trash trucks stop coming over the border. Waste industry officials say the laws will certainly be challenged in court. The measures may violate federal rules on interstate commerce, which is regulated by Congress.

Until the time that Canadian trash trucks bringing garbage, along with narcotics, medical waste and possible terrorist weapons, are stopped, the officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection will continue to do their jobs and will continue to keep Michigan and the rest of the United States safe from harm.