For Solar Landfills-More Help With Landfill Closure Requirements in Florida
Dear Friends, Visitors/Viewers/Readers, (Please click on red links below),
As a result of our posts on Landfills + Community Solar=Great Opportunities & Savings, and further investigation and requests made with FL-DEP (Florida-Department of Environmental Protection), I’ve received response from a very helpful Professional Engineer, Lee Martin (850-245-8734, Lee.Martin@dep.state.fl.us) of the Solid Waste Section of the FL-DEP, to help with navigation in obtaining some of the maps and charts available to general public at the web site of Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Engineer Lee Martin also clarified that the list I posted in Landfills + Community Solar=Great Opportunities & Savings is not all the closed landfills in Florida but all of our Class I (Subtitle D MSW) landfills in long term care and there is a significant difference. I’d like to mention the fact that Engineer Lee Martin was very careful in asking me to obtain permission from the Press Office (850-245-2112) of FL-DEP first before providing any detailed information. Below, are instruction under his guidance:
To continue navigation of our website in order to get a map of the Class I closed in long term care landfills please start on our web site at: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/solid_waste/default.htm and click on the link under Facility Search and Reports marked Solid Waste Facility Locator. This will open up Map Direct: Solid Waste. On the left margin click on Find Places, and then click on Filter Solid Waste Facilities. A popup window will open and allow you to select “Class I Landfill” under Class and “Closed, in LTC, with GW Monitoring” under Class Status, select these and click on the Apply Filter button. On the next popup window you are notified the filter has been applied, click on the Close button to view the map. In order to print the map as a pdf format file, click on the Print to PDF link at the bottom of the screen (see below) and follow the directions. Hope this helps, if you have any additional questions that I can help with please contact me as indicated below, Lee
Class I Landfill, Closed LTC with GW Monitoring (credit: FL DEP)
Furthermore, Engineer Lee Martin also provided us, below, some important points for the landfill closure requirements for state of Florida, in case any of you out there should be interested in considering taking on any solar/wind projects utilizing any of the Florida landfills.
Thanks Susan, the reference for the landfill closure requirements/criteria is in Chapter 62-701.600(3)(g), Florida Administrative Code. A copy is available on line at: https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ChapterHome.asp?Chapter=62-701 and an extract is included below;
1. Landfills shall have a final cover designed to minimize infiltration and erosion, which shall include a barrier layer consisting of a soil layer, a geomembrane, ora combination of a geomembrane with a low permeability material. All geosynthetic and soil components used in the final cover shall meet the standards and specifications contained in subparagraphs 62-701.400(3)(d)1. and 2., (3)(d)5.-11., paragraph (e), and (f), F.A.C. For lined Class I and Class III landfills, the barrier layer shall have a permeability that is substantially equivalent to, or less than, the permeability of the bottom liner system. If the landfill uses a geomembrane in the bottom liner system, the barrier layer shall also incorporate a geomembrane. For unlined Class I landfills, the barrier layer shall have a permeability of 1 x 10-7 cm/sec or less. For unlined Class III landfills, the barrier layer shall have a permeability of 1 x 10-5 cm/sec or less. For unlined Class III landfills which accepted only yard trash, no barrier layer is required;instead, final cover shall consist of a 24-inch thick soil layer, or a 30-inch thick layer consisting of approximately 50 percent soil and 50 percent ground or chipped yard trash by volume, the upper six inches of which shall be capable of supporting vegetative growth.
2. If the barrier layer consists only of soil, it shall be at least 18 inches thick, installed in 6-inch thick lifts, and shall have a final, 18-inch thick layer of soil, or a 24-inch thick layer consisting of approximately 50 percent soil and 50 percent ground or chipped yard trash by volume, that will sustain vegetation to control erosion placed on top of the barrier layer.
3. If the barrier layer consists only of a GCL, a protective soil layer at least 24 inches thick shall be placed on top of the GCL with the upper six inches being able to sustain vegetative growth. In the alternative, the GCL may be covered with a 12-inch thick layer of soil that is then covered with a 15-inch thick layer consisting of approximately 50 percent soil and 50 percent ground or chipped yard trash by volume, with the upper six inches being able to sustain vegetative growth. The GCL shall be placed on a protective soil layer at least six inches thick. Material specifications and installation methods, which may include a drainage layer between the GCL and the protective soil layer over the GCL, shall be adequate to protect the barrier layer from root penetration, resist erosion, and remain stable on the final design slopes of the landfill.
4. If a geomembrane is used in the barrier layer, it shall be either HDPE or LLDPE with a minimum average thickness of 40 mils or PVC with a minimum average thickness of 30 mils, shall have chemical and physical resistance to materials it may come in contact with, and shall withstand exposure to the natural environmental stresses and forces throughout the installation, seaming process, and settlement of the waste during the closure and long-term care period. A protective soil layer at least 24 inches thick shall be put on top of the geomembrane. In the alternative, the geomembrane may be covered with a 12-inch thick layer of soil that is then covered with a 15-inch thick layer consisting of approximately 50 percent soil and 50 percent ground or chipped yard trash by volume, with the upper six inches being able to sustain vegetative growth. Material specifications, installation methods, and compaction specifications, which may include a drainage layer between the geomembrane and the protective soil layer, shall be adequate to protect the barrier layer from root penetration, resist erosion, and remain stable on the final design slopes of the landfill. This layer shall include topsoil or soils that will sustain vegetative growth.
5. The final cover design shall include an evaluation of the stability of the cover system and the disposed waste and shall be designed to meet the factor of safety criteria in subsection 62-701.400(2), F.A.C. This evaluation shall include an analysis of the potential for slides along the weakest interface of the final cover system and of the potential for deep seated rotational or translational failures through the waste and the final cover.
6. An applicant may use an alternate design for the barrier layer or parts of the barrier layer, or for the protective soil layer, upon a demonstration that the alternate design will result in a substantially equivalent rate of storm water infiltration through the final cover. Any alternate design shall be reviewed by the Department as part of its review of the closure design plan.
7. Nothing herein shall preclude the Department from requiring more stringent final or temporary cover designs in a permit or consent order if necessary to protect the public health or the environment because of the nature of wastes received or site specific geological or hydrogeological conditions, or if the landfill has not been adequately constructed, operated, maintained, or closed.
Hope this helps, if you have any additional questions that I can help with please let me know, Lee
Engineer Lee Martin apparently will be retiring from FL DEP within 3 months or so. So, if you need any additional guidance in the next three months, please refer to Lee Maritin, P.E., contact information: 850-245-8734, email: Lee.Martin@dep.state.fl.us Please contact me if you are reading this post after July, 2014 and want more guidance with landfill closure requirements. If so, email me at sunisthefuture@gmail.com for his updated contact information. Let’s hope that Engineer Lee Martin will consider consulting in the future, to guide rest of the world through all the requirements for closure of landfills in Floria in the process of covering more surface area with Solar/Renewables!
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your comments/suggestions/questions will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Related Post: Hurray For Solar Landfill; The Amazing EGSC (Exposed Geomembrane Solar Cover) ;Landfills+Community Solar=Great Opportunities & Savings.
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