The old landfill behind the Transfer Station on Depot Road has been sitting idle since it closed in 1984. The Department of Public Works has been using it for years as storage space for bulky items like Jersey barriers and piles of loam or wood chips. But this year when the Department of Environmental Protection notified the town that it must officially close the landfill, it popped up on the Select Board’s radar as a possible economic and environmental opportunity.
The board is proposing leasing the space to a business or organization for the purpose of installing a solar array, and the town must give its permission to lease town-owned land. Voting “yes” on Article 20 would be a vote to grant that permission.
Former landfills are known as brownfields, sites that are difficult to develop because of underlying contamination. But ground-mounted solar arrays can be installed on ballasts that do not penetrate the surface of the landfill, making that type of solar garden a viable option for reusing the contaminated land in an environmentally friendly way. According to its website, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection has approved more than 100 solar and wind installations on closed and capped landfills.
Before leasing the land, the town must first determine what steps the DEP will require to officially close the landfill. When the Transfer Station was built in 1984, the landfill was unofficially closed, but there were no state regulations for closing landfills at that time. Town Administrator Tim Bragan told the Press there was very little commercial development in town at that time, and he thinks it’s unlikely that hazardous waste would have been deposited into the landfill. Still, tests will be needed.
Currently, the town has hired the engineering firm Tighe and Bond to work with the DEP to determine exactly what the town needs to do. Bragan said corings are being taken from sections of the landfill to determine its boundaries and to see how thick the top layer of soil is. It’s unclear if the DEP will require any kind of cap on the landfill, he said. But, he added, annual air and water quality tests in the surrounding area will be required for 35 years after the landfill is officially closed, even though it has not been used for more than that amount of time.
Once the DEP declares the landfill closed, the town could apply for a permit to install a solar array on it. Bragan said the board would then lease the land specifically as a ground-mounted solar array site. The lessee would install, maintain, and operate the solar array.
