Fresh Kills Landfill | |
|---|---|
Landfill site | |
 Garbage scows bring solid waste to Plant #2 at Fresh Kills Landfill in 1973 | |
 Fresh Kills Landfill on the western edge of Staten Island | |
| Coordinates: 40°34′36″N 74°11′14″W / 40.57667°N 74.18733°W | |
| Opened | April 1948 |
| Closed | March 22, 2001 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 900 ha (2,200 acres) |
The Fresh Kills Landfill was a landfill covering 2,200 acres (890 ha) in the borough of Staten Island in New York City, United States. The name comes from the landfill's location along the banks of the Fresh Kills estuary in western Staten Island.[1]
The landfill opened in 1948 as a temporary landfill, but by 1955 it had become the largest landfill in the world,[2] and it remained so until its closure in 2001. At the peak of its operation, in 1986, Fresh Kills received 29,000 short tons (26,000 t) of residential waste per day, playing a key part in the New York City waste management system.[3] From 1991 until its closing it was the only landfill to accept New York City's residential waste.[4] It consists of four mounds that range in height from 90 to about 225 feet (30 to about 70 m) and hold about 150 million short tons (140×106 t) of solid waste. The archaeologist Martin Jones characterizes it as "among the largest man-made structures in the history of the world."[5][6][7][8]
In October 2008, reclamation of the site began for a multi-phase, 30-year site redevelopment. The landfill has been developed into Freshkills Park.
- ^ "Fresh Kills T-shirt, ca. 1992". Online Collections Database. Staten Island Historical Society.
- ^ "To read Council Member Borelli's full report" (PDF). May 2017.
- ^ Sullivan, Robert; Doskow, Jade (August 14, 2020). "How the World's Largest Garbage Dump Evolved Into a Green Oasis". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
- ^ Lee, Jennifer 8 (November 3, 2009). "Helping Spin Gold From a Pile of Garbage (Published 2009)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Fresh Kills Park Project Introduction". New York City Department of City Planning. 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
nycgovparkwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
audubonwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Jones, Martin (2007). Feast: Why Humans Share Food. Oxford University Press. p. 278. ISBN 978-0-19-953352-7. OCLC 75713258. OL 7403096M.