From the transcript: ... More about that: Grant to transform massive landfill, where trash was piled 500 feet high, into a park (LA Times) ...
From the transcript:
At its peak, Puente Hills was accepting around four million tons of trash every year, making it one of the largest landfills in the country. It closed in 2013, creating a time capsule of everyday life and consumption patterns over a span of 56 years. But Puente Hills is also a time capsule of landfill engineering itself. In 1976, right in the middle of its lifespan, sweeping federal regulations changed how we deal with solid waste forever.
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Once a landfill is closed, there’s not a lot you can do with it after that. It’s a big, sealed up, mountain of trash, after all. Owners are generally required to look after a closed landfill for at least 30 years afterwards, inspecting for leaks, monitoring the air and water, and repairing any damage. Those costs have to be built into the rates they charge, since there’s not a lot of benefit (or revenue) after closure. But, with all that open space and carefully-maintained landscaping, one option that many landfill operators are trying out is parks. [...] Puente Hills in California has big plans, including trails on the slopes, biking, slides, gardens and more.
“The Puente Hills Regional Park is the culmination of a decades-long vision to transform the former landfill and its 150 million tons of trash into a public space, a place for nature and wildlife, a place for healing, restoration, and regeneration,” L.A. County Parks and Recreation Director Norma E. Garcia-Gonzalez said in a statement.
The park’s site was once home of the Puente Hills Landfill, which operated from 1957 until its closing on Oct. 31, 2013. Trash is estimated to have covered 602 acres, with piles rising 500 feet high.
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[...] parks department officials confirm they’re still on track to break ground in summer 2025.
Park Phase I construction will includes the entrance, an adjacent small park and picnic areas, an Environmental Justice Center, parking areas and an operations yards, according to parks and recreation officials. That work should be completed by fall 2026, officials said.
Comment box Scope: summary, personal reaction Tone: neutral, interested, skeptical Opinion: yes Sarcasm/humor: none Very nice video. Super informative. I did not know that landfills had all those...
Comment box
Scope: summary, personal reaction
Tone: neutral, interested, skeptical
Opinion: yes
Sarcasm/humor: none
Very nice video. Super informative. I did not know that landfills had all those systems to deal with leachate and gases.
However, Grady seems to imply that landfill infrastructure lasts "forever" (or "is supposed to last forever"). The idea that a plastic liner can maintain its form for more than a century does not seem realistic to me. Surely you will see cracks and seepage someday (there's a lot of trash on top), and then you somehow have to unearth an entire landfill to replace the liner (unrealistic), or you just let it seep into the groundwater and give a bunch of people uber-cancer (probably what will happen), and it will probably be a big equity issue too.
How would you even tell if your landfill liner has a crack until some people are pumping up poisoned well-water and being hospitalized? I'm sure there's some tech for it, but I imagine it's absurdly expensive.
The infrastructure seems like it does a great job of keeping environmental impacts to a minimum in the short term. I know this is an engineering channel (and I love it), I just think he glossed over the fundamental problem. Humanity produces way too much garbage. It needs to produce less garbage, and its garbage needs to become less toxic and more biodegradable.
If it happened, I'm somewhat doubtful that anyone would figure it out. They'd have to notice that a rise in long-term health issues is connected to groundwater, and then figure out that it's...
If it happened, I'm somewhat doubtful that anyone would figure it out. They'd have to notice that a rise in long-term health issues is connected to groundwater, and then figure out that it's coming from an old landfill.
On the bright side, a lot of medical advances can happen in a hundred years. I wonder what cancer treatments will be like then? Will our descendants still worry about cancer?
From the transcript:
...
More about that:
Grant to transform massive landfill, where trash was piled 500 feet high, into a park (LA Times)
...
Comment box
Very nice video. Super informative. I did not know that landfills had all those systems to deal with leachate and gases.
However, Grady seems to imply that landfill infrastructure lasts "forever" (or "is supposed to last forever"). The idea that a plastic liner can maintain its form for more than a century does not seem realistic to me. Surely you will see cracks and seepage someday (there's a lot of trash on top), and then you somehow have to unearth an entire landfill to replace the liner (unrealistic), or you just let it seep into the groundwater and give a bunch of people uber-cancer (probably what will happen), and it will probably be a big equity issue too.
How would you even tell if your landfill liner has a crack until some people are pumping up poisoned well-water and being hospitalized? I'm sure there's some tech for it, but I imagine it's absurdly expensive.
The infrastructure seems like it does a great job of keeping environmental impacts to a minimum in the short term. I know this is an engineering channel (and I love it), I just think he glossed over the fundamental problem. Humanity produces way too much garbage. It needs to produce less garbage, and its garbage needs to become less toxic and more biodegradable.
If it happened, I'm somewhat doubtful that anyone would figure it out. They'd have to notice that a rise in long-term health issues is connected to groundwater, and then figure out that it's coming from an old landfill.
On the bright side, a lot of medical advances can happen in a hundred years. I wonder what cancer treatments will be like then? Will our descendants still worry about cancer?