A Burning Wasteland Reclaimed

by Thomas Granger, Manager of Project; Ebasco Services, Inc., Lyndhurst, NJ,
Ming Kuo, Consulting Engr.; Ebasco Services, Inc., Lyndhurst, NJ,
Mario Verdibello, Supervising Engr.; Ebasco Services, Inc., Lyndhurst, NJ,


Serial Information: Civil Engineering—ASCE, 1987, Vol. 57, Issue 8, Pg. 43-45


Document Type: Feature article

Abstract:

Until recently the PJP Landfill exemplified what can happen when uncontrolled and illegal dumping goes on for many years. Now it is an example of what innovation and imagination can do in an area where there are few, if any, precendents or references. The landfill, located in Jersey City, New Jersey, is an 87-acre dump in the midst of a heavily populated residential and commercial area and is crossed by the Pulaski Skyway, a major artery into New York City. The site has a history of fires and emission of smoke and odors dating to the 1970s. In recent times, more than half the area was engulfed by surface and subsurface fires reaching temperatures in excess of 850� F. Public outcry resulted in interim measures to alleviate the situation. Ebasco Services, Inc. designed the plan to extinguish the landfill fire and to prevent reignition for a minimum of four years. Approximately 1 million cu yd of landfill material were excavated and doused; 5,000 cu yd of contaminated soil were segregated for further testing; 5,000 drums were removed, sampled and staged, and the remains of many thousands more broken and corroded drums were removed with the contaminated soil, while 150 gas cylinders and 60 lab packs were removed for off-site disposal.

Subject Headings: Soil pollution | Landfills | Soil gas | Fires | Temperature measurement | Waste management | Subsurface environment

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