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Local resident Anthony Kucharski told the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) at the Thursday, Jan. 11 public hearing that the agency's landfill is ruining the quality of life in Absecon and other nearby communities.
"Absecon is absolutely fed up with being dumped on," said Kucharski. "This has been a decades-long problem that has only gotten worse. The anger, frustration, and stress have reached a boiling point."
Kucharski was one of dozens of people who went to a town hall meeting on Thursday, Jan. 11 to demand answers from ACUA leaders about bad odors coming from the landfill. The agency spoke to a standing-room-only crowd in the Absecon Municipal Complex and about 50 people watching online on Zoom.
ACUA president Matt DeNafo spoke about the process of laying trash and reducing emissions at the landfill, which opened in 1992. The 365-acre Egg Harbor Township facility includes the 102-acre landfill with trash buried about 110 feet deep.
DeNafo explained the ACUA's gas collection and control system, which uses vacuum systems of blowers, flares, and wells to capture landfill gas. There are at least 115 vertical gas wells, five blowers, and three flares working to contain what's released into the air.
DeNafo said the installation of 15 new wells began in mid-December, with six more expected to be installed and connected within the next week.
"The impact of those 15 wells is going to be felt in the next week or couple of weeks," said DeNafo.
The ACUA also talked about long-term projects expected to be completed in the next 18 months. Crews will install 21 more gas wells later this year.
Another project will convert decomposing trash into renewable natural gas, the ACUA said. The project is expected to be the first one to reduce landfill emissions by 95 percent, according to DeNafo.
The agency is also working to permanently cap 16 acres of landfill that's the closest area to Absecon.
Many residents who attended the meeting sounded skeptical about how they'll benefit from the ACUA's landfill plans. They urged agency officials to fix immediate issues like the odor typically smelled at night. DeNafo said the stench comes from hydrogen sulfide.
Kucharski said he's worried the smell also contains other chemicals that could be hazardous to people's health.
"This isn't merely an odor problem," he said. "We're being exposed to dangerous concentrations of noxious gases."
People from other communities like Pleasantville and Galloway Township said they're also worried about health effects. One woman from Galloway told the ACUA that her frequent migraines and breathing issues could be caused by the emissions.
One man, who recently moved with his wife to a home on Shelburne Avenue in Absecon, asked if the landfill's air could increase cancer risks in the city over the next few decades.
"We put our plans of starting a family on hold because of our health concerns," he said.
DeNafo said air quality readings are taken at the landfill every day at 6 a.m. He also said odor control can vary due to the temperature, wind, and other weather factors.
City council president Nick LaRotonda asked if Atlantic County could change its policy that prevents waste from being shipped outside of the county. The ACUA officials said contamination or other types of accidents create liability issues for having trash leave the county.
LaRotonda helped organize the town hall meeting with the ACUA and hopes it's an important step toward solutions to the long-standing foul problem.
"We have to start somewhere and we have to open the lines of communications," said LaRotonda.
The ACUA website has a form that residents can fill out to file landfill odor complaints. It also has information about the agency's odor control measures and projects at the landfill.
DeNafo said ACUA officials try to respond to online reports of bad odors within two hours.
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