Landfill Benefits & Features 

WM ensures site security by controlling and limiting access to the facility as well as perimeter fencing and natural barriers. The facility can only be accessed via a single gate, which directs all traffic to a gatehouse occupied during business hours by trained personnel. During non-business hours, the date is locked and monitored by electronic surveillance.

Covel Gardens Landfill complies with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Texas Commission of Environmental quality (TCEQ) regulations for municipal and solid waste landfills The facility employes a mute-layer composite liners system that includes an engineered clay barrier and a 60-mil high-density polyethylene (HDPE) membrane to contain the waste deposited in it and to manage both leachate and the landfill gas naturally produced by decomposition in the waste mass. Additionally, it employs robust measures to protect the quality of both surface and groundwater, as well as air quality and overall environmental quality.

The leachate collection system consists of a permeable layer of engineered materials and piping located just above the bottom portion of the liner, designed to collect and drain fluids from the landfill. Above this is a two-foot layer of soil that protects the liner and the system. A TCEQ-approved wastewater treatment facility receives the collected leachate.

WM safeguards groundwater in the area by regularly sampling and analyzing groundwater from the monitoring wells on the landfill. To protect surface water, the site manages stormwater runoff using silt fences, rock dams, erosion control mats, and other best management practices.

Covel Gardens Landfill uses an active landfill gas collection and control system to remove gas from the landfill. The collected landfill gas powers the onsite Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) facility. An onsite high-temperature flare burns off unused gas. A series of gas probes installed around the perimeter of the facility detects any potential migration of landfill gas.

WM ensures site security by controlling and limiting access to the facility as well as perimeter fencing and natural barriers. The facility can only be accessed via a single gate, which directs all traffic to a gatehouse occupied during business hours by trained personnel. During non-business hours, the date is locked and monitored by electronic surveillance.