It sounds like your trash is coming to NC. One of the economic reasons, economies of scale, is the same that we've earlier discovered:
Tighter federal regulations have made siting and building lined landfills more costly. Private companies have found that larger landfills serving more than one county make sense financially.
Greg Peverall, a project consultant for Waste Management, said that as landfills grew larger and more costly to build, they had to serve larger areas to be financially feasible.
"Before you put the first bag of garbage in the ground, a company or county will have $10 million in the project," he said.
And what should North Carolinians do about this "problem"? Considering that "... unlike 22 other states, North Carolina does not levy a state tax on garbage," we could have a tax and at least make some money off the trash.
Tennessee taxes garbage at 75 cents per ton, generating about $5 million per year. Neither Virginia nor South Carolina has such a tax; both states receive large amounts of out-of-state garbage.
This tax would be in the Pigouvian tradition, I think, to tax negative externalities (e.g., trash) in an effort to reduce them. And, its odd that NC doesn't have a trash tax. Could a tax be more popular than one levied on out-of-state trash?
And, finally, this should make me feel better?
Ven Poole, vice president of corporate development for Waste Industries, said Chesapeake's concerns are overblown. He said multiple safety systems would capture runoff and prevent leaks.
"Many landfills across the country are located next to rivers, wetlands and population areas," Poole said. "Chesapeake is trying to paint this as a uniquely dangerous situation, and it's not."
Actually, I'm in the crowd that thinks the landfillers are doing a pretty good job. We don't hear too much about the negative impacts of trash and leaching on rivers and wetlands (or am I missing something?).
Call me crazy, but NC should still tax the tonnage.
