"There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction." - John F. Kennedy Announcing the formation of the Solid Waste - Special Interest Group (SW-SIG <https://sites.google.com/site/swsigofpiercecounty/home> ) of Pierce County Thursday August 22nd 2013 5:30 PM SW-SIG Kick-Off Meeting <https://sites.google.com/site/swsigofpiercecounty/contact-us/events-sign-up -form> at the Graham Fire & Rescue, 23014 70th Ave E, Graham, WA 98338 Participate - Visit Our Web Site <https://sites.google.com/site/swsigofpiercecounty/> SW-SIG will appeal to those who which to break the regulatory capture [1] <> of the local waste - resource regulatory agencies. SW-SIG offers opportunities for local involvement, activism and group activities to make the public, the rate payers, a partner in the protection of the environment and the public health as well as provide a public choice voice in determining the socio-economic balance used in regulating waste - resource materials productively over their entire lifecycles. Community vs. Individual Interests During the 1970's economic stagflation, LRI was formed (1977) at the request of Pierce County to assume control of the Hidden Valley landfill. They have operated the solid waste services for the county ever since, and have a transfer station, a landfill, and recycling facilities. In 2008 Pierce County - PCRCD dba LRI entered into a (28 year exclusive) Waste Handling Agreement (2008-2036). LRI's engineering contractor is reporting to the State that the Landfill will reach its capacity in 2030 while Pierce County publishes literature stating the Landfill will reach its capacity in 2048 with material diversion that hasn't completely happened to date and is not scheduled to be implemented before the Landfill closes. 41% of the waste stream is NOT diverted therefore reducing the public benefit lifecycle of the Landfill and the public value of the Waste Handling Agreement. SW-SIG Kick-Off Meeting Sign Up Form <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/embeddedform?formkey=dE1RM05PUFVCQTFoM3 dST1dPaHZXVGc6MA> Contact Us: https://sites.google.com/site/swsigofpiercecounty/ pcswsig@gmail.com [1] Regulatory capture is a theory associated with George Stigler, a Nobel laureate economist. It is the process by which regulatory agencies eventually come to be dominated by the very industries they were charged with regulating. Regulatory capture happens when a regulatory agency, formed to act in the public's interest, eventually acts in ways that benefit the industry it is supposed to be regulating, rather than the public. "Regulatory capture" occurs when special interests co-opt policymakers or political bodies - regulatory agencies, in particular - to further their own ends. Capture theory is closely related to the "rent-seeking" and "political failure" theories developed by the public choice school of economics. Another term for regulatory capture is "client politics," which according to James Q. Wilson, "occurs when most or all of the benefits of a program go to some single, reasonably small interest (and industry, profession, or locality) but most or all of the costs will be borne by a large number of people (for example, all taxpayers)." (James Q. Wilson, Bureaucracy, 1989, at 76). George Joseph Stigler was a U.S. economist. He won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1982, and was a key leader of the Chicago School of Economics, along with his close friend Milton Friedman. Born: January 17, 1911, Seattle, WA Died: December 1, 1991, Chicago, IL