NEW YORK — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded the Region 2 Excellence in Site Reuse Award for a Superfund Site project, according to a press release.
The township installed an array of 24,000 solar panels on a former landfill site that powers government buildings and community parks, noted the release. "It generates about 7,400 megawatt-hours of energy per year."
Standard Alternative LLC will operate the system until 2029, when the township will take over ownership, stated the release. The array is estimated to save the municipality about $13 million over 15 years.
"Brick Township has succeeded in turning the environmental liability of a former Superfund site into a community asset," said Deputy Regional Administrator Catherine McCabe, in the release. "Renewable energy is a key component of our work to combat climate change, and it’s great to see that a landfill that once only generated contamination now can provide Brick Township with clean energy."
The landfill operated from the 1940s until 1979, and accepted many kinds of waste including sewage, construction debris and contaminated liquids, shared the release. It became a Superfund Site in 1983, and cleanup work was completed in 2013.
Cleanup work included installing a cap to prevent rainwater from seeping into the landfill and spreading contamination, reported the release. The groundwater under the site cannot be used as drinking water, and monitoring will continue to ensure proper functioning of the cap.
Click here to read the entire release.
