New Jersey's Newest Solar Farm Is a Real Dump

By Tom Johnson, NJSpotlight.com

The former Kearny garbage dump is a 66-acre plot of land, fallow for more than three decades, although practically within shouting distance of some of the most expensive real estate in the nation, with a bird’s eye view of the Manhattan skyline.

Today, it may be emblematic of a new chapter in New Jersey’s development, as Public Service Electric & Gas and others yesterday dedicated a new 3-megawatt solar farm on 13 acres of the former landfill, producing enough electricity to power up to 500 homes.

The $17.8 million solar farm project, a joint effort between PSE&G, the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission, and SunDurance Energy, an Edison-based solar developer, is the first solar project built on a state-owned landfill.

The project also lends credence to the Christie administration’s Energy Master Plan, which recommends that large-scale solar projects be developed on old landfills or brownfields, instead of open space and farmlands.

"These landfills have sat dormant for years, and have been a familiar site to northern New Jersey residents for as long as I can remember," said Ralph LaRossa, president and chief operating officer of the state’s largest utility. "This project updates that story, showing how 21st century technology coupled with public-private partnership can return even the most unusable space to a productive purpose."

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities President Bob Hanna agreed, noting the governor has made it very clear that large-scale solar projects be directed to landfills and brownfield.

"These sorts of sites, however, pose challenges," Hanna said. "This project shows it can be done."

The dump, dubbed the NJMC 1A Landfill, is surrounded by the wetlands and marshlands that once permeated the area, as well as the Northeast Corridor Rail Line, New Jersey Turnpike, and the Pulaski Skyway. The conversion of the onetime landfill to a solar farm suggests that the engineering and legal hurdles hindering such projects can be overcome.

In this case, the project also benefitted from the closing of the dump more than three decades ago, a fact that allowed the waste there to settle and make the facility more stable, according to officials.

Not that the Kearny site did not pose any challenges. Before the 12,500 solar panels could be installed, the utility and developer had to haul in 1,500 truckloads of fill to layer the top of the landfill, a step utility officials described as the most challenging part of the project.

Read more at NJSpotlight.com

Follow Patch on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our free daily newsletter