Storms start to move out of Minnesota, continue for western Wisconsin

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     (AP)  Nearly six months after Minnesota barred old
televisions and computer monitors from landfills, leaders in some
counties are finding the waste in rivers, ditches, wooded areas and
trash bins.
  

    County officials want legislators to revisit the electronic
waste recycling law in the 2007 session, and put the onus on
manufacturers to set up an electronic collection and recycling
system.

      "A lot of people are saying they are seeing more illegal
dumping," said Annalee Garletz, policy analyst for the Association
of Minnesota Counties.

      Each piece of discarded video equipment contains 2 to 8 pounds
of lead and smaller amounts of other harmful pollutants like
mercury and cadmium.

      According to Minnesota Pollution Control Agency projections,
state residents will get rid of 10 million pounds of televisions
and another 10 million pounds of computers, monitors, laptops and
printers next year.

      Disposing of the equipment can cost from $5 to more than $25.

      "Any time people think something is going to cost them money,
there are those who will pay it and those who won't," added Kevin
Ruud, environmental services director for Norman County. "It's
that simple."

      Garletz's organization found in a recent survey that the problem
tends to be more acute in rural counties.

      In Polk County, for example, officials noticed that people were
taking the equipment home after being asked to pay the recycling
fee. But some people were determined to get rid of the stuff
anyway.

      "Lots of them are being left in parking lots after hours,"
said Jon Steiner, Polk County environmental services director.
"People drive around the side of the building and leave them by
the Dumpster instead of paying for them."

      State highway department workers called Morrison County
officials and asked why they were finding a flurry of TVs and
monitors in ditches. The county's environmental specialist said
other residents resorted to wrapping electronics in black plastic
bags and leaving them at landfills anyway.

      "People are getting very creative because they don't want to
pay the cost," Kowalzek said.

      Other counties, such as Hennepin County, already had effective
electronic-recovery systems for people updating equipment or
cleaning out basements and garages.

      Rep. Jean Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis, is the new head of the
House Environment and Natural Resources Finance Committee. She said
she plans to hold a hearing on e-waste recycling early in the
upcoming session.

      Minnesota's isn't the only state with an e-recycling law.
Similar statutes are on the books in Maine, Maryland and
Washington.


Gallery

Eating our e-waste

Nearly six months after Minnesota barred old
televisions and computer monitors from landfills, leaders in some
counties are finding the waste in rivers, ditches, wooded areas and
trash bins.


Trash trouble: After e-recycling law, more illegal dumping

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