A green way to cap an old landfill

USDA scientist Pat Millner and safety manager David Prevar have worked with the EPA and private consultants to conduct a pilot study for an alternative way to cap landfills. It’s part of a long-abandoned, 30-acre municipal landfill located at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC.)

 

Millner's idea was to cap or seal the old landfill with trees and shrubs, planted in a mix of topsoil and compost, instead of the traditional clay caps. Vegetative caps are gaining acceptance from state agencies as a sustainable practice. EPA Region 3, which serves the Mid-Atlantic states, sees the BARC project as a potential model.

 

Vegetative caps reduce methane emissions while preventing rainfall from penetrating into the municipal waste and then leaching into groundwater. Also, an increase in forest canopy contributes to improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay by sequestering carbon and filtering runoff. BARC's waterways drain into tributaries of the Bay.

 

The Maryland Department of the Environment has been following this project closely, since there are numerous landfills statewide that would benefit from this alternative closure approach. This method of capping is more environmentally sound and economical. If accepted by Maryland, when fully implemented it would create more than 30 acres of forest canopy and critical habitat.

 

*Editor’s note: There are an estimated 10,000 closed landfills in the U.S. – and that’s based on old data. The EPA has not released up-to-date info. Just think of the possibilities of plant sales to cities, counties and municipal waste facilities.