Cost to close Fresh Kills, N.Y. landfill dwarfs previous estimates

New York City sanitation commissioner John J. Doherty said yesterday that closing Staten Island’s Fresh Kills landfill could cost more than $1.4. billion over 30 years and require an additional five years of work. According to a New York Times article, the figure is hundreds of millions of dollars greater than previous projections. Doherty revealed the figure during a City Council hearing reviewing Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year.

Former mayor Rudolph Giuliani announced the closing of Fresh Kills in 1996. The final loads received at the site were debris from the World Trade Center after Sept. 11, 2001. Giuliani’s decision to close the landfill was significant, as it had been New York City’s primary waste depository since 1948. In recent years, the site has required considerable construction to address leachate issues and harness methane gas emissions.