On Monday, Bluestem was first to report about local objections to a legislative raid on the Minnesota Landfill Contingency Action Trust (MLCAT) in our post, Bill does unto others as Range wouldn't have done to IRRRB: the case of the MLCAT account.
Minnesota Public Radio picked up on the same issue on Wednesday.
The publicity has had an effect, Jesse Van Berkel reports at the Strib in Legislature plans to empty landfill cleanup fund and return money later:
Maintaining landfills after they close is a never-ending, expensive job.
But the fund to cover the cost of keeping waste from leaking into the earth at metro landfills — like the massive sites in Burnsville and Inver Grove Heights that could eventually hold 55 million cubic yards of trash — may soon be cut to $0.
The Legislature’s proposed spending bill for agriculture and the environment temporarily empties the Metropolitan Landfill Contingency Action Trust (MLCAT), which currently contains $8.1 million — an insufficient sum due to two past pillages by the state, local officials said. The money would be transferred to the state’s general fund.
Until Thursday, the bill did not include a plan for repayment. It was updated after e-mails and calls from Dakota County officials, who feared they would be left with cleanup costs. The bill now states the money would be repaid if the state’s November revenue and expenditure forecast is positive.
“We’re very happy with the repayment of the MLCAT funds,” Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, said. “The repayment will help protect groundwater for future generations.”
Many local government officials questioned why the Legislature would need to dip into the funds in a year with a budget surplus.
“It’s not like they need $8 million in the general fund with a $2 billion surplus. Give me a break,” Inver Grove Heights Mayor George Tourville said.
Read the rest at the Strib. Kudos to Hansen for standing up for the interests of the citizens of Dakota County and to Rep. Jean Wagenius (DFL-Minneapolis) to pointing out the analogy between robbing this fund and other unrelated attempts to steal from the IRRRB's funds.
Photo: Rep. Rick Hansen (center) raising this issue in Friday's informational hearing in the joint meeting of the Minnesota House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. Landfill burglar Denny McNamara is the fellow to his left.
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