Operation Wasteland

For nearly 40 years, New York’s private waste removal industry was the domain of the mob, until an undercover cop risked everything to take it down. The gripping tale of what happened next also raises the question: are we any better off without the mafia taking out the trash?

Special thanks to:

Anthony Vitale

Rick Cowan and Douglas Century, co-authors of The Takedown

Chris Grosso

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It’s not that hard to kill a planet. All it takes is a little drilling, some mining, a generous helping of pollution and voila! Earth over. When you take stock of what’s left, it starts to look like a crime scene: Decapitated mountains, poisoned rivers, oil-soaked pelicans, maybe a sun-bleached cow skull in a dried-up lake bed. The only thing missing is yellow caution tape. On each episode of Lawless Planet, host Zach Goldbaum reveals the scams, murders and cover-ups on the frontline of the climate crisis, and the life and death choices people are making to either protect our world – or destroy it.

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• No. of episodes: 43
• Latest episode: 2026-05-04
• Society & Culture History

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