Minneapolis landfills owned by Waste Management & Republic Services sue Minnesota environmental agency over incineration push

Jul 7

Written By Guest User

By Cody Bottler, Waste Dive.

Three Minneapolis-area landfills owned by Waste Management (Burnsville Sanitary Landfill, Elk River Landfill and Spruce Ridge Landfill) and one owned by Republic Services (Pine Bend Landfill) have filed suit against the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for allegedly misinterpreting a law that prioritizes incinerating garbage rather than landfilling it, according to the StarTribune.
Earlier this year, MPCA fined each of the landfills $20,000 for accepting garbage that could have been used at waste-to-energy facilities. The StarTribune reported in January that MCPA had begun to start pushing for more waste incineration, suddenly enforcing a law from the 1980s to prioritize burning.
The lawsuits note that compliance with the incineration law will be impossible without a complete redrafting of communication between industry players in the region. The landfills are also asking the court to drop the fines.

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