EREF Supports Research for Landfill Closure Care

Rebekah A. Hall Managing Editor

THE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH and Education Foundation (EREF), Alexandria, Va., has awarded $60,000 to the Interstate Technologies and Regulatory Council (ITRC) Alternative Landfill Technologies Team for its alternative landfill cover research.

The ITRC is a state-led coalition that works to gain regulatory acceptance for environmental technologies while reducing compliance costs. The organization received EREF funding to develop a technical and regulatory guide that will detail “methods states should use to oversee the design, construction, monitoring and post-closure care of alternative, final landfill covers,” the organization states. This research also will include alternative cap designs at bioreactor landfills. The coalition hopes to streamline state acceptance for alternative cover technologies.

ITRC's research dovetails an EREF project led by GeoSyntec Consultants, Boca Raton, Fla. The firm is researching alternative methods to a 30-year post-closure care period and investigating how funds can be used to protect the environment, according to Ed Repa, EREF's director of environmental programs. “These are two separate projects that will come together into one,” he says. EREF is an independent public foundation that receives funding from sponsors interested in environmental research.