280 



It should be noted that when the composting alternative was de- 

 veloped here, it was done so because it was the only possible 

 solution that could meet the deadline. It was not selected as 

 the best possible solution for New York City based on environ- 

 mental, technical or economic arguments, but only because it 

 could meet the deadline. Under the land application regulations 

 at that time, the City could only deposit sludge-derived compost 

 on lands that would remain under the control of the City. The 

 seven year term was based upon the availability of such lands. 

 These lands were primarily underdeveloped park lands (closed 

 former landfills) and existing City landfills. The compost 

 -would be used for cover material on the landfills. Fresh Kills 

 Landfill was intended to be the single largest recipient of 

 compost in the system. It would have recived 30 percent of all 

 compost produced here. 



These land based alternatives were developed in 1978. Since 

 then several things have occurred which would tend to reduce 

 even further the land available for compost application. New 

 York City landfills have been classified as "open dumps" by the 

 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The 

 City was ordered to upgrade them to "Sanitary Landfill" classi- 

 fication by 1985 or close them down. The Departitient of Sanita- 

 tion is now moving toward a resource recovery solution and pro- 

 bably will ultimately close down all but the Fresh Kills Land- 

 fill. 



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