State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and several local leaders are putting the garbage industry on notice.

They met in Bridgeport Friday claiming taxpayers in Connecticut are paying way too much for garbage collection. They say the industry clears almost $40 million in profit annually for an essential service, which officials say should be treated as a public utility.

Blumenthal says he is 100 percent behind the effort to regulate garbage. He warned that when the current garbage contract is up at the end of 2008, it will give the industry license to further abuse Connecticut's residents.