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SUPERIOR ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS EXPECTED AT MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE LANDFILL

Release Date: 09/21/2000
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2000

SUPERIOR ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS EXPECTED
AT MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE LANDFILL



On Sept. 18, EPA signed a Project XL agreement with a landfill site to test an innovative technique that could result in a variety of environmental benefits, including early compliance with Clean Air Act requirements for municipal solid waste landfills. The Buncombe County Solid Waste Management Facility, in Asheville, N.C., will implement a new bioreactor and gas recovery landfill system that involves constructing an alternative liner system to collect fugitive air emissions, adding controlled quantities of liquid and circulating the liquid through waste. The bioreactor and gas recovery system is expected to decrease emissions of landfill gas, accelerate waste decomposition, enhance groundwater protection and increase the waste capacity of the existing landfill. In order to implement this innovative process, Buncombe County is seeking flexibility from the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations that control the addition of liquids into landfills. Buncombe
County will measure the environmental benefits of leachate recirculation in an alternative landfill liner, compared with the standard composite landfill liner required in current RCRA regulations. Project XL is an EPA initiative that tests innovative ways of achieving better and less costly public health and environmental protection in conjunction with greater accountability to stakeholders. Providing flexibility for companies who strive to attain environmentally superior results is a key element of Project XL. More information on Project XL can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL.

R-136 ###