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POST-CLOSURE CARE REDUCTIONS FOR PRE-SUBTITLE D LANDFILLS
Buffalo Geological’s landfill post-closure care reduction programs are intended to reduce the costs of post-closure care to the minimum necessary without lessening protection of human health and the environment.
Thousands of landfills in the United States were closed during the 1970's and 1980's to avoid expensive site engineering and upgrades associated with implementation of the rigorous EPA landfill regulations known as Subtitle D. Landfills constructed prior to Subtitle D regulations varied widely in their engineering, waste contents, and geological settings. EPA regulations require these closed landfills to conduct at least 30 years of post-closure care. This care includes the operation/maintenance of landfill systems plus environmental monitoring of surface water, groundwater, leachate and air quality.
For many closed landfills the mandated 30 year post-closure care period is over yet there is a lack of Federal or state guidance for managing post-closure care activities into the future. Consequently, landfill owners who had to guarantee financial resources for 30 years face having to pay indefinitely because there is no official termination point for the various post-closure activities. In most cases, the extent to which a particular closed landfill threatens, if at all, human health and the environment is often poorly quantified. Regulators, however, are understandably reluctant to simply terminate post-closure care and retire the landfill from government control. Buffalo Geological’s site-specific scientific, statistical, and land-use information packages are intended to give a regulatory agency a publicly acceptable basis to approve reductions in post-closure care requirements.
Recent Examples - At two closed Oregon Coast landfills we negotiated significant reductions in environmental monitoring frequency and parameters resulting in annual cost-savings of over 50 percent.
Contact:
Bob Mansfield at our toll free number 1-800-710-2833 or email at buffalo@buffalogeo.com
