Southern York County Life

Landfill to become site for beauty, fun

Recreational area planned to reclaim ex-garbage dump

The decade-long dialogue about converting the York County Landfill into a recreation site could come to a conclusion soon. And children might be playing soccer and baseball on the landfill in Hopewell Township as early as the summer of 2007.

The York County Solid Waste and Refuse Authority will open and—if everything
is in order—vote on bids in April to create a recreational area encompassing two-thirds of the 306-acre landfill.

As the authority began the process to close and cap the landfill in 1997, discussions started about how best to develop the open space into a recreational area.

Hopewell Township at first had interest in building a golf course and later considered a recreational site for the landfill on Plank Road. But the township was never able to secure financing to develop the site.

Set aside $1M: In December 2003, the waste authority board agreed to put $1 million aside for the creation of a recreational area at the landfill.

“Rather than let it sit idle, the board said let’s make good use of it,” said authority spokeswoman Ellen O’Connor. “We really wanted to recapture that land use and honor Hopewell Township for the fact that they had a landfill in their community from 1974 until 1997.”

Working with the township, the authority has sent out requests for work to build a multipurpose field, a baseball field, a stone walking trail, a parking area and portable restrooms.

Depending on whether the base bid for those improvements comes in under $1 million, the authority could build a picnic pavilion, a youth playground and a “tot lot” playground for pre-school children.

The authority also plans to designate open space areas for stargazing, nature studies and bird watching.

If everything goes as planned, bids could be voted on by the waste authority board on April 19, O’Connor said, and construction could start this summer.

Concerning the stigma of environmental problems sometimes attached to landfills, O’Connor said “there is nothing that indicates kids can’t play on the landfill.”

The authority avoided underground plumbing with portable restrooms. And she said there is constant monitoring of methane gas emissions to make sure the gas is venting correctly and in areas not used by the public.

“Even though it’s a recreation site, we’ll still be doing environmental monitoring,” O’Connor said. “That will probably continue forever, or until a regulatory agency tells us to stop.”

-- Reach Charles Schil linger at 505-5431 or cschillinger@yorkdispatch.com.

Source: The York Dispatch (we obtain permission for external material)
by CHARLES SCHILLINGER
Posted by Dan Baldwin on 03/15/2006 at 11:05 AM in News

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