9Garbage Gumbo is a well-researched and detailed account of one of the strangest political, environmental, and regulatory battles to have ever occurred in Louisiana. Although the crucial matter involves the permitting of a landfill, the lessons learned are most important to anyone wanting better governance in a state where wealth and power still count for more than protecting people or the environment. This is a tale of a decades-long struggle that cost a small, rural family everything, except their principles. This story includes an undercover FBI sting, a federal investigation, state agency incompetence, allegations of political corruption and corporate greed.