Alternative Energy at Superfund Sites
Renewable energy resources – wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy – are non-polluting, inexhaustible and increasingly cost-competitive. Alternative energy resources include renewable energy production as well as other energy sources, such as converting methane gas produced during natural decomposition of wastes into an electricity source. Superfund sites can be well suited for alternative energy production. Sites in urban and rural areas near utilities and transportation networks help keep development costs low.
Alternative energy resources can help communities create jobs and diversify local economies. They also are an important part of America’s energy security and environmental sustainability. Nationwide, there are over 90 Superfund sites with active alternative energy uses onsite; several of these sites are also using renewable energy technologies as part of green remediation strategies for site cleanups. SRP can help communities reclaim and reuse contaminated lands for a wide range of purposes, including alternative and renewable energy.
On this page:
- 2023 Alternative Energy Projects Report
- Assessments/Reports
- Alternative Energy Reuse Examples
- Additional Resources
2023 Alternative Energy Projects Report
Each year SRP releases a report highlighting alternative energy projects at sites. The report presents the installed capacity and estimated annual output of the onsite projects. In 2023, the installed capacity of alternative energy facilities at Superfund sites is enough to power more than 100,000 homes for one year. Read the full report:
Site Spotlight - Global Sanitary Landfill
In 2022, Old Bridge Township approved a community solar project on the Global Sanitary Landfill Superfund site. The Global Landfill Community Solar project includes a 2.8-megawatt solar array that is located on 16 acres on top of the landfill cap. The solar project became operational in October 2023, and provides power to about 400 New Jersey homes.
Assessments/Reports
- Renewable and Alternative Energy at Superfund Sites: Harnessing New Sources of Power (PDF)
- Reuse Opportunities at Capped Superfund Sites (PDF)
SRP has supported feasibility studies and assessments to determine the potential for alternative energy reuse. A few example reports are listed below:
- Renewable Energy Reuse Assessment for the Carson River Mercury Superfund Site (PDF)
- Solar Reuse Assessment and Feasibility Study Report: Agriculture Street Landfill (PDF)
- Reuse Assessment: Martin-Marietta Aluminum Co. Superfund Site (PDF)
- Hudson River PCBs Superfund Site: Energy Park/Longe/NYSCC Dewatering Facility Site Town of Fort Edward, New York Adaptive Reuse Analysis Final Report (PDF)
- Preliminary Assessment of Renewable Energy Opportunities - Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant (PDF)
- Preliminary Assessment of Renewable Energy Opportunities Somersworth Landfill, Somersworth, New Hampshire (PDF)
- Renewable Energy Assessment Prairie View Landfill - Will County, IL (PDF)
- Renewable Energy Reuse Assessments EPA Region 5 Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (PDF)
- Report On Evaluating Renewable Energy Opportunities: The Apache Powder Superfund Site, Benson, Arizona (PDF)
Learn more about alternative energy projects highlighted in SRP’s case studies:
- Reuse and the Benefit to Community: A Beneficial Effects Economic Case Study for the Reilly Tar & Chemical Corp. (Indianapolis Plant) Site (PDF)
- Reuse and the Benefit to Community: A Beneficial Effects Economic Case Study for the Ventron/Velsicol Superfund Site (PDF)
- Reuse and the Benefit to Community: A Beneficial Effects Economic Case Study for the Welsbach & General Gas Mantle (Camden Radiation) Superfund Site (PDF)
- Brick Township Goes Solar: Redevelopment of A Superfund Site for The Brick Township Landfill Site (PDF)
- Energizing A New Future Alternative Energy and Recreational Reuse at The H.O.D. Landfill Superfund Site in Northern Illinois (PDF)
- Green Remediation and Utility-Scale Solar Development: The Aerojet General Corporation Superfund Site and Sacramento County, California (PDF)
- Reclaim, Restore, Reinvent: Creating Jobs and Cleaner Energy, The Martin-Marietta, Sodyeco, Inc. Site in Charlotte, North Carolina (PDF)
- Utility-Scale Solar Energy Development: The Reilly Tar & Chemical Corp. (Indianapolis Plant) Site in Indianapolis, Indiana (PDF)
- Utility-Scale Solar Energy Development: The Sullivan’s Ledge Superfund Site in New Bedford, Massachusetts (PDF)
Alternative Energy Reuse Examples
Biomass Sites
- Brunswick Naval Air Station, Brunswick, ME
- Gallup's Quarry, Plainfield, CT
- Martin-Marietta, Sodyeco, Inc., Charlotte, NC
- Savannah River Site (USDOE), Aiken, South Carolina
Geothermal Sites
- Arsenic Trioxide Site, Ransom, Richland and Sargent Counties, ND
- Lawrence Aviation Industries, Inc., Port Jefferson Station, NY
Hydroelectric Sites
- Pownal Tannery, Pownal, VT
Landfill Gas to Energy Sites
- Central Landfill, Johnston, RI
- Lowry Landfill, Aurora, CO
- Omega Hills North Landfill, Germantown, WI
- Pine Bend Sanitary Landfill. Grove Heights, MN
- Southside Sanitary Landfill, Indianapolis, IN
Wind Sites
- Continental Steel Corp., Kokomo, IN
- F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Cheyenne, WY
- Otis Air National Guard Base/Camp Edwards, Falmouth, MA
- Pantex Plant (USDOE), Pantex Village, TX
- Picillo Farm, Coventry, RI
Solar Sites
- Aerojet General, Rancho Cordova, CA
- American Cyanamid, Bridgewater, NJ
- Apache Powder, Saint David, AZ
- Armour Road, North Kansas City, MO
- Barkhamsted-New Hartford Landfill, Barkhamsted, CT
- Brick Township Landfill, Brick Township, NJ
- Brookhaven National Laboratory (USDOE), Upton, NY
- Brunswick Naval Air Station, Brunswick, ME
- Camp Lejeune Military Res. (USNAVY), Onslow County, NC
- Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, San Diego, CA
- Central Landfill, Johnston, RI
- Charles George Reclamation Trust Landfill, Tyngsborough, MA
- Chevron Questa Mine, Questa, NM
- Ciba-Geigy Corp., Toms River, NJ
- Cinnaminson Township (Block 702) Ground Water Contamination, Cinnaminson Township, NJ
- Combe Fill North Landfill, Mount Olive Township, NJ
- Continental Steel Corp., Kokomo, IN
- Curtis Specialty Papers, Milford, NJ
- Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center, North Kingstowne, RI
- Delilah Road, Egg Harbor Township, NJ
- E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co., Inc. (Newport Pigment Plant Landfill), Newport, DE
- Elizabeth Mine, Strafford/Thetford, VT
- Ellsworth Air Force Base, Ellsworth AFB, SD
- Fort Detrick Area B Ground Water, Fort Detrick, MD
- Fort Dix (Landfill Site), Pemberton Township, NJ
- Fort George G. Meade, Odenton, MD
- Frontier Fertilizer, Davis, CA
- GE-Housatonic River, Pittsfield, MA
- Gems Landfill, Gloucester Township, NJ
- Global Sanitary Landfill, Old Bridge Township, NJ
- Groveland Wells, Groveland, MA
- Haverhill Municipal Landfill, Haverhill, MA
- Industri-Plex, Woburn, MA
- Iron Horse Park, Billerica, MA
- Islip Municipal Sanitary Landfill, Islip, NY
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA), Pasadena, CA
- Kin-Buc Landfill, Edison Township, NJ
- Landfill & Development Co., Mount Holly, NJ
- Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab, Main Site (USDOE), Livermore, CA
- Leviathan Mine, Markleville, CA
- McGuire Air Force Base, Wrightstown, NJ
- National Semiconductor Corp., Santa Clara, CA
- Naval Weapons Station Earle (Site A), Colts Neck, NJ
- Nebraska Ordnance Plant (Former), Mead, NE
- Newmark Ground Water Contamination, San Bernardino, CA
- Northwest Pipe & Casing/Hall Process Company, Clackamas, OR
- Nyanza Chemical Waste Dump, Ashland, MA
- Oak Ridge Reservation (USDOE), Oak Ridge, TN
- Oronogo-Duenweg Mining Belt, Joplin, MO
- Pacific Coast Pipeline, Fillmore, CA
- Palmerton Zinc Pile, Palmerton, PA
- Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, SC
- Parsons Paper Mill, Holyoke, MA
- Pemaco Maywood, Maywood, CA
- Peterson/Puritan, Inc., Lincoln/Cumberland, RI
- Picatinny Arsenal (USARMY), Rockaway Township, NJ
- Price Landfill, Pleasantville, NJ
- Refuse Hideaway, Middleton, WI
- Reilly Tar & Chemical Corp. (Indianapolis Plant), Indianapolis, IN
- Re-Solve, Inc., Dartmouth, MA
- Rose Hill Regional Landfill, Wakefield, RI
- Sacramento Army Depot, Sacramento, CA
- Scientific Chemical Processing, Carlstadt, NJ
- Sola Optical, Petaluma, CA
- Solvents Recovery Service of New England, Southington, CT
- South Brunswick Landfill, South Brunswick, NJ
- Strother Field Industrial Park, Winfield, KS
- Sullivan's Ledge, New Bedford, MA
- Sutton Brook Disposal Area, Tewksbury, MA
- Travis Air Force Base, Travis AFB, CA
- Tucson International Airport Area, Tucson, AZ
- United Chrome Products, Corvallis, OR
- USARMY/NASA Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, AL
- USN Air Station Cecil Field, Jacksonville, FL
- Ventron/Velsicol, Wood Ridge Borough, NJ
- W.R. Grace & Co., Inc. (Acton Plant), Acton, MA
- Washington County Landfill, Lake Elmo, WI
- Wells G&H, Woburn, MA
- Welsbach & General Gas Mantle (Camden Radiation), Camden and Gloucester City, NJ
- West Kingston Town Dump/URI Disposal Area, South Kingstown, RI
- Williams Air Force Base, Chandler, AZ
- York County Solid Waste and Refuse Authority Landfill, Stewartstown, PA
For additional information about alternative energy projects on potentially contaminated lands, landfills and mine sites, please visit RE-Powering America’s Land.
Additional Resources
- Biomass, Geothermal, Solar and Wind Programs: These U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) programs offer general information, research, funding and technical assistance.
- Clean Energy Programs: These EPA programs provide information and technical assistance on clean energy technologies, green power resources and state and local programs.
- Green Power and Renewable Energy: This EPA effort provides information on green power and renewable energy.
- Innovative Redevelopment at Superfund Sites: Supporting Healthy, Sustainable and Equitable Communities (PDF): This fact sheet series highlights innovative projects at Superfund sites that are supporting healthy, sustainable and equitable communities.
- Landfill Methane Outreach Program: EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) is a voluntary assistance program that helps to reduce methane emissions from landfills by encouraging the recovery and beneficial use of landfill gas (LFG) as an energy resource. For more information see EPA's 2011 Superfund Landfill Methane-to-Energy Pilot Project (PDF).
- Renewable Energy at Mining Sites: EPA’s Abandoned Mine Lands Team (AMLT) has actively provided communities with technical support and resources to explore innovative reuse opportunities available at former mine lands.
- Renewable Energy Program: This EPA and DOE program provides links to state-level renewable energy incentive sheets and maps highlighting contaminated lands with the potential capacity to support renewable energy-related land uses.
- RE-Powering America’s Lands Initiative: This federal initiative identifies the renewable energy potential of formerly contaminated areas, including Superfund sites, and provides other useful resources for communities, developers, industry, state and local governments, and others interested in reusing these sites for renewable energy development.
- State and Local Climate and Energy Program: This program provides resources to state and local government on renewable energy topics.
- Technology Innovation and Field Services Division (TIFSD) Green Remediation Focus: TIFSD’s CLU-IN website provides information and case studies on EPA’s green remediation efforts.