Beneficial Reuse of Closed Landfills

International Paper (IP) is the owner of five closed industrial solid waste landfills associated with a Canton, NC paper mill, which IP sold in 2000.  Altamont is contracted by IP to be their local representative to manage the company’s interest and liability at these sites.  Altamont’s responsibilities include quarterly inspection of landfill slopes, caps, and stormwater conveyance structures and property maintenance (which includes maintenance of vegetation, access, and groundwater, surface water, and landfill gas monitoring points).  Additionally, Altamont conducts routine groundwater, surface water, and landfill gas sampling and is responsible for the reporting of this data and overall correspondence with regulatory agencies. 

In 2004, Altamont served as a liaison for IP in the negotiation of a lease of one of the closed landfill cells as a public recreational facility.  As a result, the Town of Canton entered into a long-term lease of the landfill property with IP and has built three baseball fields, with additional sport facilities planned for the site.  More recently, Altamont contracted with both IP and a local non-profit organization to construct the Western North Carolina Regional Livestock Center (WNCRLC) on one of the landfills.  Altamont led and managed a team of firms that completed aspects of the project, including but not limited to: health and safety, environmental and geotechnical investigation, site planning, construction observation, regulatory correspondence, and a major permit modification.  The brand new, state-of-the-art WNCRLC facility opened on March 21, 2011 and consists of an approximately 46,500-square-foot auction building that includes an open-air livestock holding area and a covered auction facility (including an auction arena, lobby, banquet hall, offices, concession, ticket vending, and restrooms).  Parking and loading areas were constructed over capped waste material. WNCRLC is one of the first facilities in the state to be permitted and constructed partially on permitted landfill waste. 

Challenges with the project include conducting the compaction and grading over a closed landfill cell without causing damage to the landfill cover and structural fill associated with the landfill, mitigating potential landfill gas impacts in to the WNCRLC operations, and providing adequate stormwater and erosion control measures.