TURN THE HARTFORD LANDFILL INTO A NEIGHBORHOOD ASSET!

CRRA wants your input on what happens to the Hartford landfill when it closes in 2008. (Read about CRRA's revised closure plan.)

On April 12, 2006, CRRA held a public meeting to discuss its plans to close the landfill and to solicit input from the community on the landfill's future. (Click here to see the April 12, 2006, presentation.)

The landfill, which was opened by the City of Hartford in 1940, was leased by CRRA in 1982 to serve CRRA's Mid-Connecticut Project. The City has always owned the landfill, and will continue to own it once it is closed, and the City will bear ultimate responsibility for developing its future use. Today, the landfill consists of two parts:

• An 80-acre municipal solid waste landfill which receives bulky waste and other waste which cannot be processed at the Mid-Connecticut Project trash-to-energy facility. CRRA does not deposit unprocessed trash here.
• A 16-acre ash landfill which receives combustor ash produced at the Mid-Connecticut Project trash-to-energy facility.

CRRA has added a number of environmental safeguards to the landfill:

• Groundwater flow control systems capture storm water that leaches through both areas of the landfill and keeps it from discharging into the Connecticut River and other local groundwater.
• A landfill gas collection and control system collects the gases naturally produced by decomposing waste. This prevents greenhouse gases from being discharged into the air and controls odors while also generating enough green electricity to power up to 2,000 homes.

CRRA leases the landfill from the City of Hartford, which in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, will receive a total of $5.5 million in lease payments, payments in lieu of taxes and other host community benefits from CRRA.

The landfill currently rises to 138 feet above sea level, but is designed to reach a maximum height of 190 feet. However, in 2004, the CRRA Board of Directors decided not to seek an expansion beyond its current height. That decision was reached after considering a number of factors, including the community's desire to close the landfill.

CRRA has prepared a revised closure plan that has received tentative approval from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. Under CRRA's existing permit, the landfill must be closed with the installation of a cap made of low-permeability clay, then finished with a cover of topsoil and grass seed. However, CRRA's revised closure plan includes:

• A state-of-the-art enhanced synthetic cap which will allow 90 percent less rainwater infiltration than the clay cap.
• A uniform 3:1 slope around the entire municipal solid waste landform. Under this grading plan, CRRA will fill in a small sliver of space (as shown in slide 8 of the April 12, 2006, presentation) to receive waste through 2008.
• A restatement of CRRA's commitment to end deliveries of waste by Dec. 31, 2008.
• Conceptual discussion of future uses of the landfill.

CRRA is now seeking your ideas about potential future uses. Other closed landfills have been used for walking and biking trails, fitness courses and parks. As you can see in Slides 21, 22 and 23 of the April 12, 2006, presentation, the landfill has some spectacular panoramic views of Hartford and the areas east of the Connecticut River. Already, the landfill is a habitat to unusual species of birds, such as hawks, plovers and sandpipers. In fact, the Hartford Audubon Society visits the landfill as part of its June and December bird counts. Because the landfill will be owned by the City after it is closed, and the City will be responsible for developing future use of the site, the City and its residents should help decide its future.

One thing is for sure -- CRRA wants to hear your good ideas about the future of the Hartford landfill. There are two ways to make your voice heard:

• Send an e-mail to landfill(at)crra.org .
• Send a letter to:
  Hartford Landfill Future
  Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority
  100 Constitution Plaza, 6th Floor
  Hartford, CT, 06103.

Whichever method you choose, please include your name, address and telephone number in case we need to contact you. Thank you for helping to make the Hartford landfill a Hartford asset!