Hauppauge landfill is now clean energy project

A Hauppauge landfill -- closed because it posed potential threats to the environment -- is now home to one of Islip's latest alternative energy projects and green classroom initiatives.

As part of the plan, 330 solar panels have been placed on the northwest corner of the Islip Town Landfill on Blydenburgh Road.

"This gives us an opportunity to take something that had very little value and generate power that is clean and renewable," Islip Supervisor Phil Nolan said.

The project, which was completed in August, is expected to produce 50 kilowatts of electricity daily, enough to run the active parts of the landfill now powered by Long Island Power Authority, officials said.

The site is also intended to be a teaching center, open to field trips from schoolchildren, to demonstrate alternative energy uses. On Friday, officials hosted the project's inaugural educational tour, welcoming students from East Islip High School's Green Career Academy.

"It's a great open air classroom to discuss a lot of topics surrounding our environment and our energy," said Islip Councilman John Edwards. "I'm hopeful that student groups from all over the town will continue to come to the site."

Since being installed, the 3-by-5 foot panels have produced about 11,000 kilowatts of electricity collectively, Edwards said.

The landfill, containing about 70 acres of garbage, was capped in the late 1990s as part of the U.S. Environmental Protect Agency's Superfund Program, designed to clean up the country's most hazardous sites.

Islip's solar project is jointly funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Town of Islip's Resource Recovery Agency. A town spokesman said Islip contributed about $225,000. Rep. Steve Israel (D-Dix Hills) said he raised about $475,500 in federal funds for the project. Edwards has said the town would make back the money invested in the project within 10 years, producing -- and possibly selling its energy.

"This is a demonstration of the federal government and a local town working together in an efficient way," Israel said. "We've turned a trash dump into a new clean energy site."

Islip's project has three primary benefits, he added: "It creates and supports jobs. It saves taxpayers money. It reduces our dependence on foreign oil."