CASELLA IN BETHLEHEM: An Environmental Success Story

The history of landfills in Bethlehem, NH, and the North Country Environmental Services (NCES) landfill, is the history of technological advances developed over decades to address the ongoing challenges of waste disposal.

Casella took ownership of the property in 1994 and began to set to work in addressing two decades of environmental challenges that previous owners had faced with an ambitious project in conjunction with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.

As part of the development of a new, double-lined landfill cell, DES requested that Casella dig up the entire unlined landfill and put the waste in a double-lined cell that the previous owner had constructed.

At the time new landfill liner requirements went into effect, there were hundreds of unlined dumps and landfills in throughout New Hampshire. Eventually, these unlined facilities were forced to close, but in virtually every case the waste remained in the ground and was simply covered by an impermeable membrane, or a “cap.” This meant that rain and snowmelt couldn’t infiltrate the waste mass, but pollutants in the waste could continue to leach into the groundwater.

“Even though this was not something any other facility in the state had done, and it would be much more cost-effective to simply cap the unlined landfill, we knew that completing the proposed excavation was the only way to prevent further contamination of the soil and groundwater,” according to Casella Chairman and CEO John W. Casella. “We excavated all the waste down to unstained soil and put it in Stage I of the newly constructed, lined landfill.”

In 2010, CYN Environmental was contracted by NCES to excavate iron and manganese precipitate that remained from the previous operations, and completed transferring this material to the lined landfill. Water quality monitoring continues to be conducted three times annually at that site and annually at the Ammonoosuc River, and will continue indefinitely.

In addition to these water and soil mitigation efforts, Casella has also made significant progress in air quality controls. For example, in 1994, only passive flaring of landfill gas existed.

“We have since added a complex and sophisticated system that pulls the gas from the landfill and flares it, which has reduced emissions substantially,” said Casella. “Now, with a cutting-edge facility that will convert landfill gas into clean natural gas scheduled to come online in September 2022, the landfill will become a low-emissions facility.”

Casella also implemented odor controls designed to prevent odor from traveling off-site. Another innovation that originated in Bethlehem, which is being added across other facilities, is the use of “geothermal loops” designed to harness the heat produced by decomposition. That heat is distributed to Casella’s maintenance shop and community greenhouse, eliminating the need for an additional heat source, and reducing the company’s carbon footprint.

In May 2021, Casella and Rudarpa Inc. broke ground on a new Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) processing facility at the NCES landfill. With a planned opening in September 2022, the facility will capture the landfill gas and separate it into marketable gases (primarily methane and carbon dioxide). Converting the landfill gas into transportation fuel is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 78,000 tons annually, equivalent to removing more than 15,000 passenger cars from the road.

The RNG facility will also ensure that the NCES landfill will continue to benefit Bethlehem, even after the planned closure of the landfill in 2026.

“In an industry marked by vast and rapid change, the one constant throughout our time in Bethlehem has been our steadfast commitment to the health and safety of Bethlehem’s residents and natural environment,” said Casella. “As the town’s largest taxpayer, we have helped contribute to the economic well-being of the town, while also providing positive economic impact to businesses throughout New Hampshire’s North Country.” n

Environmental Impact Facts

A quick snapshot that illustrates how Bethlehem’s recycling efforts helped the environment.

In 2021, it recycled 378 tons of recyclable material.

That’s like filling up 10,583 curbside recycling carts.

And it prevented 1,169 metric tons of greenhouse gases from being emitted.

That’s like saving 131,555 gallons of gasoline.