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More Community Corner Ex-landfills may serve as solar fields
The “dump” may become the site of renewable energy in the towns of Norton and Holbrook, which are moving toward leasing their former landfills to a solar energy company.
Norton officials intend to lease about 20 acres of its 34-acre capped landfill to Scituate-based Ansar Energy LLC. The town has applied for a “post-closure use permit” with the Department of Environmental Protection, which seeks to ensure that the solar installation will not significantly damage the landfill’s cap.
Holbrook selectmen have approved a letter of intent to enter into an agreement with Ansar to lease 20 acres of the town’s former landfill.
Both towns expect to generate between $200,000 and $300,000 a year by leasing the land.
“To turn a liability into an asset – a landfill, my goodness – and turn it into a productive green use, is kind of exciting,” said Norton Town Manager James Purcell.
Under the state’s Green Communities program, the DEP and the Department of Energy Resources have been promoting the use of former landfills for solar or wind power facilities.
Sarah Weinstein, deputy assistant commissioner in the DEP’s Bureau of Waste Prevention, said a solar installation is less technically challenging than erecting a wind turbine on a capped landfill. Siting problems with solar installations, Weinstein said, generally only arise when the landfill has been improperly capped.
Purcell said Norton spent about $20,000 to spruce up the former landfill prior to applying for the post-closure use permit.
More Community Corner Ex-landfills may serve as solar fields
Ex-landfills may serve as solar fields
The “dump” may become the site of renewable energy in the towns of Norton and Holbrook, which are moving toward leasing their former landfills to a solar energy company.
Norton officials intend to lease about 20 acres of its 34-acre capped landfill to Scituate-based Ansar Energy LLC. The town has applied for a “post-closure use permit” with the Department of Environmental Protection, which seeks to ensure that the solar installation will not significantly damage the landfill’s cap.
Holbrook selectmen have approved a letter of intent to enter into an agreement with Ansar to lease 20 acres of the town’s former landfill.
Both towns expect to generate between $200,000 and $300,000 a year by leasing the land.
“To turn a liability into an asset – a landfill, my goodness – and turn it into a productive green use, is kind of exciting,” said Norton Town Manager James Purcell.
Under the state’s Green Communities program, the DEP and the Department of Energy Resources have been promoting the use of former landfills for solar or wind power facilities.
Sarah Weinstein, deputy assistant commissioner in the DEP’s Bureau of Waste Prevention, said a solar installation is less technically challenging than erecting a wind turbine on a capped landfill. Siting problems with solar installations, Weinstein said, generally only arise when the landfill has been improperly capped.
Purcell said Norton spent about $20,000 to spruce up the former landfill prior to applying for the post-closure use permit.
Written by MMA Associate Editor Mitch Evich
