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Brownfields to Greenfields: The Landfill Closure Initiative In 1993, the USEPA established containment as the “Presumptive Remedy” for the closure of municipal landfill sites and required these sites to be capped with impermeable cover systems to reduce infiltration of water. This remedy was intended to protect groundwater resources by “containing” the waste and reducing the formation of “leachate”, which is precipitation that has come in contact with buried waste materials and may contain contaminants above regulatory standards. However today, our understanding of landfills and the stabilization process of landfilled wastes is more refined and this is driving a change in the way we approach landfill closure and remediation. Our increased understanding has led us to question the long-term viability of “containment” remedies, which seek to entomb wastes in landfills forever. For many older landfills without cover systems, source-leaching and natural attenuation processes have effectively reduced the pollution potential of the sites. In these cases, disruption of the naturally established equilibrium by installing an impermeable cover system may have adverse consequences. This begs the questions: Can wastes truly be contained in a landfill in perpetuity? What are the risks associated with installing impermeable caps? Are other potential options more appropriate for certain sites? The Landfill Closure Initiative is aimed at ensuring that “science” and site-specific data play a much greater role in selecting appropriate remedies for older landfill sites. Looking at the gas, groundwater, and soil data, combined with a thorough understanding of the waste degradation and stabilization processes, may present opportunities to implement alternative closure techniques which are equally or more protective of human health and the environment, at significantly less cost. In today’s world with limited resources, maximizing the use of available funds is critical. In addition, implementation of Smart Growth strategies requires us to identify options for remediation and reuse of these properties, which may be precluded by the “Presumptive Remedy”. Using a streamlined approach to investigating and remediating former landfill sites, we are addressing many former landfill sites to redevelop them for reuse at modest expense. Depending on the needs of the property owner or municipality in which the site is located, opportunities exist to create community assets from these former landfill sites. Parks, ball fields, nature trails, and passive and active recreational facilities, as well as residential and commercial developments, can be created on former landfill sites to benefit the communities. Transforming a liability into an asset is our goal. Join us as we strive to turn Brownfields to Greenfields under the Landfill Closure Initiative!
Read our correspondence with the NJDEP
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