College Park Landfill Pilot Study

Requirements 

We conducted a Pilot Study of the College Park Landfill (CPLF), a 30-acre site operated as a municipal landfill from 1954 through 1978. Following closure, a cover was applied, but it was not closed in accordance with regulatory requirements. As landfills are known for their ability to mobilize hazardous substances into surrounding media, the CPLF was added to the U.S. Superfund (CERCLA) program for further evaluation.

Solutions 

We developed the Remedial Investigation Work Plan and Sampling Plan. Following investigations that included a soil gas survey, hydrogeological assessment, wetland delineation, and Site Screening Process risk assessment, we performed a pilot study to explore an alternative to the traditional landfill cover for closure. Alternative capping systems, such as evapotranspiration (ET) or vegetative caps have reduced costs, while meeting applicable regulatory requirements. In addition, carbon sequestration using vegetation and composted organic materials sequesters carbon from landfill gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane.

Benefits 

To address regulatory obligations, BMT investigated innovative alternatives to conventional closure methods. To combine the beneficial effects of both ET and carbon sequestration cover designs, BMT installed a pilot vegetative bioreactive landfill cap (VBLC) to evaluate these technologies which were approved by EPA Region III and state regulators.