| Since the nineteen seventies, the siting of a municipal solid waste facility has been the product of policy making and planning processes at all levels of government. Ideally, municipal solid waste management planning results in a long term strategy for environmentally safe and economical waste treatment and disposal. However, public opposition often hinders the implementation of such strategies. Therefore, the issue of public opposition has to be examined in the context of municipal solid waste management planning and implementation. Vice versa, the form and content of municipal solid waste management planning and implementation processes shape the opposition. This study explores the history of policy making and planning for municipal solid waste management in the United States. Subsequently, it examines several cases of facility siting and closing in Gloucester and Burlington Counties in New Jersey. The resulting dissertation clarifies the roles of both decision makers and takers with respect to municipal solid waste planning and implementation at the county level in New Jersey, as well as the impact of citizen activism on these processes. This clarification leads to the identification of a new citizen involvement, characterized by public debate and citizen oversight. Citizen oversight committees monitor operational municipal solid waste facilities, while the public debate engages an interested citizenry early on in decision making with respect to municipal solid waste management. |
