By Cory Daviau, Department of Public Works and Transportation
Have you ever heard the term, “environmental infrastructure?” It is used to describe facilities and projects that provide vital services that protect human health and the environment. Baltimore County’s environmental infrastructure includes our water and waste water systems, storm water management facilities, watershed and shoreline restoration projects and the like. However, there is an unsung hero among the many examples of environmental infrastructure across our county—the Eastern Sanitary Landfill.
Yes, the landfill.
Modern landfills are often mistakenly viewed as negatively impacting the environment due to misconceptions about how they actually work. What makes a modern landfill a “landfill” and not a “dump,” anyway?
Unlike the “dumps” of yesteryear, today’s landfills use environmental protection measures from top to bottom and everything in between. In fact, the word “dump” itself is particularly contrary to the nature of the modern landfill, which is a sophisticated feat of engineering easily missed by the untrained eye.
A landfill is a complex multilayered system built and tested tirelessly to ensure it does not leak. Piping is installed on the bottom to remove liquids, known as “leachate,” for treatment. The County’s landfill is incrementally filled in layers and inspected continuously for waste that should not be landfilled. It is covered daily to avoid being exposed when the day ends. When a landfill is filled, a system of pipes are installed in the trash to collect and route the gases produced as the trash decomposes; these gases are then treated.
The shape of the bottom and top of a landfill, the way you fill a landfill, the way water and gas are collected and treated, and everything required to build a landfill has a permit. Each permit is a reflection of federally-mandated requirements to contain and reduce environmental pollution. The Bureau of Solid Waste Management also actively monitors the groundwater, surrounding land and landfill surface for forms of pollution and periodically reports its findings to the State of Maryland.
There is an entire division of the Bureau that conducts pollution monitoring and solution services. Discussions are held routinely between certified professional engineers, geologists, surveyors, equipment operators and communication specialists to ensure the landfill is built and maintained with best management practices.
So, why else does a landfill hold value?
A landfill is a last resort for the byproducts of Baltimore County residents’ everyday lives. When unrecyclable goods are discarded, the waste must go somewhere to protect public health and the environment. There are a few different options for waste disposal, but having a landfill as a last resort gives Baltimore County residents an affordable local option with a smaller environmental impact than most alternatives.
To put it simply, the landfill is built and maintained by people who care. Our landfill staff are industry leaders in many regards who are constantly working to hone their craft and provide a higher level of service to Baltimore County. These employees plan each step of the landfill with both the facility users and pollution prevention in mind and are constantly looking for ways to improve.
Would you like to know what you can do to help the effort (and the environment)?
Reuse and repair the things you already own. Buy, consume and throw away less stuff. Buy used. Choose reusable options over single-use items. Anything you have to trash, dispose of it properly. Read The Resource every month for waste avoidance tools and reuse options, and share what you learn here with others.