The Islip Resource Recovery Agency submitted an application to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) for an Article 27 solid-waste permit modification to an existing permit for the Phase 3 Cleanfill Landfill at Blydenburgh Road Landfill Complex, in Hauppauge, in spring of this year.

Two Zoom meetings to disperse information to the public were held last week on Thursday morning, Sept. 15, and Tuesday evening, Sept. 19.

Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the landfill complex are nearing capacity and thus, the proposal was made for the opening of a Phase 3, which the IRRA said would serve the community for cleanfill (i.e., concrete, steel wood, sand, dirt, soil, glass, construction and demolition debris) and recognizable inert material designed by the department. C&D debris is defined by Environmental Conservation law as “waste resulting from construction, remodeling, repair, and demolition of structures, buildings and roads and includes fill material, demolition wastes and construction wastes) for the next two decades upon completion.

The IRRA is a public authority organized under Public Authorities Law and charged with the provision of solid waste and services to the Town of Islip. The Board of Directors of the IRRA are composed of the elected members of the Town Board of the Town of Islip.

Blydenburgh Road Landfill Complex is a 109-acre parcel, which handles waste disposal operations in Hauppauge.

As an active Cleanfill Landfill, the complex contains capped/closed MSW landfill, capped/closed ash monofil, landfill gas collet ion and flare facility, a scale house facility, two leachate storage lagoons, four leachate storage tanks, along with an administration office and maintenance garage. The two active phases total approximately 30 acres in size.

The customers of the Blydenburgh landfill are primarily composed of TOI residents and the Islip Highway Department.

Phase 3 will construct an approximately 6.5-acre area (within the existing footprint of Blydenburgh landfill) with a maximum vertical elevation of 285 feet (20 feet over the existing permitted elevation).

Without Phase 3, Phase 1 and Phase 2 are expected to reach permit capacity and close within two years leaving no NYSDEC-permitted facility within the Town of Islip for the disposal of cleanfill.

IRRA proffers that this paucity of waste dispersal may “contribute to an increase in illegal dumping, which is an ongoing problem on Long Island.”

The landfill currently accepts a maximum daily rate of 1,450 tons and the Phase 3 cleanfill volume is 800,000 CY.

The 19-year estimation of service of Phase 3 is based on current filling trends, which the IRRA characterizes as “considerably less than the permit limit.”

Phase 3 will be located between and along the northern side slopes of the landfill and the southern side slope of the capped/closed MSW landfill and will not encroach on the 50-foot buffer around the property boundary of the landfill complex.

The construction is proposed as a two-stage process, where Phase 3A will consist of the installation of the liner system over the northern portion of the landfill extending north over the capped/closed MSW landfill up to the elevation of an existing stormwater diversion swale.

The double composite lining system will consist of:

• Two feet of low permeability soil
• 60 mil. high density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane
• Geocomposite layer
• One foot of soil with permeability of 0.1 cm/sec meinum in areas of </=10% slope
• Geosynthetic clay layer in areas of </=10% slope
• 80 mil HDPE geomembrane
• Geotextile layer
• One foot of soil with permeability of 1 cm/sec minimum covered by one of soil of permeability of 0.1 cm/sec minimum of areas of </= 10 percent slope
• Two feet of soil with permeability of 0.1 cm/sec minimum in areas of >10 percent slope.

Stormwater that is collected will be considered leachate. Two northern recharge basins will be expanded to accommodate a 100-year, 24-hour storm as specified in state environmental regulations.