DETROIT — Two U.S. Senators raised the pitch on their ongoing calls to ban Canadian trash from being dumped in the U.S. because of alleged security risks.

Senators Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat and Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman released a report yesterday indicating inadequate screening of the trash crossing the border poses a security risk. The state legislators complain that trucks frequently carry medical waste and illegal materials to U.S. landfills.

Unlike with other freight, it is not possible to trace the origin of waste-related cargo, which prevents officials to ensure the security of the supply chain, the two legislators say.

About 350 truckloads of trash enters the U.S., mainly through the crossings at Detroit and Port Huron.

The reports states that, although most trucks entering through those ports pass through gamma-ray detectors, containerized trash is too dense for x-rays to penetrate.

Last week, Michigan legislators passed a budget plan that could allow authorities to charge $45 million in new dumping fees to Canadian companies transporting waste across the border. Congress would have to approve the measure, however.

Today in a statement, the Ontario Trucking Association said the Canadian government should act quickly to prevent U.S. authorities from imposing inspection fees on Canadian carriers hauling trash.

“While the Ontario Trucking Association is aware that such a budget resolution does not carry the force of law at this time, such resolutions can and often do establish guidelines for appropriations bills that follow,” OTA President David Bradley wrote in a letter to Minister of International Trade David Emerson.

“While this resolution may be targeted at solid waste, the rationale and arguments used to justify it could be just as easily applied to any and all other commodities that Canada exports to the United States,” he wrote. “OTA believes that the government should take whatever appropriate action it can now to ensure that this resolution does not find its way into other appropriations bills and future laws.

“Not only would this impede the lawful shipment of municipal trash to the U.S. but it could also set a dangerous precedent for similar action against other Canadian commodities at some point in the future.”

— with files from Associated Press