Heads and limbs were never found, and all were discovered in private landfills.

And so far the city has been able to do that, using truck and rail shipments to carry garbage to private landfills, mainly in Virginia.

Because many towns had signed contracts with private landfills at the state's urging, they say the provision is unfair.

It is one of hundreds of modern, leak-proof private landfills that have opened around the country in recent years, replacing thousands of town dumps.

A third of the trash dumped at the plant is not salvageable, and is hauled to private landfills.

About 10 percent of the waste dumped in the private landfill here and the other one in Hampden comes from Massachusetts.

Pennsylvania does not regulate the deals communities make with private landfill and incinerator operators.

The 17 private landfills in Suffolk County are under "paper regulation" by the State Department of Environmental Control, but supervision is "negligible," he said.

Some newly established private landfills have opened bidding wars, he said.

From 1970 to 1978 three of the four private landfills established during that period were located in Houston black neighborhoods.