A few years back I participated in a group that was trying to get state tipping fees in place for Virginia.  I forget the reason why, but the recommendation never did make if before the General Assembly.  Placing a required per ton State tipping fee on all garbage might be a good starting point.  For example, the fee could be $5 or $10 per ton, with all the funds being deposited in a fund set aside for situations like the Shoosmith one in Chesterfield.  This way, funds in this account would be used prior to asking the tax payers to pay it.  The $10.6 million for Shoosmith is just the tip of the iceberg. 

A better job needs to be done of vetting the financial status of these companies before they are permitted to start up, this includes parent corporations.  Too often it is found that companies operating this type of business are actually owned by people in foreign countries.  Then this brings into question, what legal actions can a State take against a company in a foreign country.  Review their backgrounds and especially their changes in key personal and financial status and determine if they are heavily leveraged. 

DEQ needs to be more effective with their monitoring process and follow-up as it is amazing that the weaknesses at Soosmith were found by the County personnel and not DEQ.  Just think how many people could be hired by DEQ to complete necessary monitoring with $10.6 million.  Perhaps DEQ needs to test wells outside landfill sites and not just within the boundaries.

A large non-revocable cash bond of $250 - $500 millon is reasonable in these types of projects where there are so many outs the companies can take and it is left up to the taxpayers to carry the burden.