Contacts: Heather Emmons, DRI PIO
heather.emmons@dri.edu Reno (775) 673-7488
Bill Albright, DRI associate research hydrogeologist Bill.Albright@dri.edu
Reno (775) 673-7314
All DRI News Releases available at: http://news.dri.edu/
May 20, 2004
New methods for covering disposal sites could save industry millions DRI to tell NATO next week
In collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, DRI conducted a nationwide assessment of how landfill covers work in different climates and environments. This key information can translate into a multi-million dollar savings for the disposal industry in the United States and around the world, as well as improve the environmental performance of closure caps and provide guidance for future land use.
The Alternative Cover Assessment Program, an EPA-DRI collaboration spearheaded by DRI’s Bill Albright, has accumulated alternative landfill cover data that is one-of-a-kind and has caught worldwide attention leading to an invitation to address NATO’s Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society in Cardiff, Wales May 23-26.
“Being invited by the U.S. EPA to address NATO is a big honor,” according to Bill Albright, associate research hydrogeologist. “My project is just coming to maturity and the information we have is truly one-of-a-kind. Countries all over the world can benefit from this information.”
Landfills are expensive operations, and private companies as well as federal agencies must meet federal standards when closing them. The covers physically separate the waste from the environment, improve aesthetics, minimize odors and control the percolation of precipitation into the waste.
Albright’s group uses a combination of field data and computer modeling to gather information about how conventional and alternative covers perform over time and has proposed a new option—the alternative earthen final cover, or AEFC. The ACAP’s data provide predictions for how an AEFC cover will perform, which is essential when being proposed in lieu of one of the conventional covers prescribed by the government regulation.
Edwards Air Force Base in California is already anticipating reaping the rewards of a separate DRI study of their cover needs, and Albright predicts a cost savings of tens of millions of dollars for those covers alone. Landfills in Albany, Ga., Omaha, Neb. and Helena, Mont. also have been permitted for final alternative covers and will see a combined $15 million cost savings.
The ACAP, a collaboration of researchers, industry and agencies, approached the government and industry with a proposition to study their sites with the hopes of improving the design process and saving them millions of dollars.
The group now has 12 nationwide study sites where portions of landfills are evaluated, modeled and trial covers are tested. Researchers continuously measure elements that contribute to the cover’s water balance, that is, its precipitation, evapotranspiration, surface runoff, water storage within the soil and percolation from the base of the cover.
Albright’s data impact decision-making for several entities: from influencing land use options, such as corporations who want to use an old landfill site for a sports complex or high-rise building, to the U.S. EPA’s own landfill cover policies.
“The EPA is re-writing its policy because of this program,” Albright said. “The new knowledge we have received is being incorporated into its new policy. It’s safe to say the ACAP program has been successful in being the catalyst for the positive changes in policy because we have cornered the market on alternative landfill cover performance.”
For more information about ACAP, visit http://www.acap.dri.edu/.
A nonprofit, statewide division of the University and Community College System of Nevada, DRI pursues a full-time program of basic and applied environmental research on a local, national, and international scale. Nearly 500 full- and part-time scientists, technicians, and support staff conduct some 150 research projects at DRI annually. More than 85 percent of DRI's annual $37 million operating budget consists of research grants and contracts obtained by its scientists. The balance is received from the state of Nevada for administrative costs.