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THE SUNCOAST NEWS

Published: December 6, 2008

In February, County Commission members suggested carving Pasco into exclusive service areas for the county's private garbage haulers. Since then we hadn't heard much of the idea. For a while, we were hoping the commissioners were merely pulling an April Fools' Day joke a few months early.

Then this week the horrible truth was revealed: They're not kidding.

Creating the monopolies, commissioners say, will improve the efficiency of trash hauling in Pasco County. This is a dubious notion, regardless of its source. That it comes from a governing body with 80 percent Republican membership is bizarre.

This week commissioners scolded the waste hauling firms because so far they haven't come forward with a plan to create the one-firm-only service areas. This lack of response from the haulers is perhaps a hint the commissioners should, but probably won't, take.

We understand the commission is faced with a problem. The Pasco County Resource Recovery Facility, which burns garbage to generate electricity, operates at or over capacity these days. Expanding the plant would cost, according to one rather dated estimate, $150 million. This money could prove difficult and costly to raise, given the current credit climate.

What we don't get is how creating garbage hauling monopolies in any way helps with this problem.

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