High Acres Landfill & Recycling Center Construction & Operational Update

2nd Quarter 2022

Site Information

The High Acres Landfill began in 1971 and joined the WM family in 1972. The facility provides environmentally responsible solid waste management to the region. Located on approximately 1,500 acres, the facility offers many amenities. The permitted landfill consists of around 360 acres.

The team at High Acres Landfill provides this Construction & Operational Update summarizing the key enhancements that have occurred on-site in 2022 thus far. Going forward, WM will provide similar updates on a quarterly basis to the community. Key aspects of the updates will include community benefits, site construction activities, environmental performance and compliance, and site monitoring activities.

Landfill Facts

Total Property: 1,500+ acres
Design Capacity: 3,500 tons per day
Closed Landfill: 72 acres
Western Expansion: 68.1 acres
Parkway Expansion Phase I: 20.1 acres
Parkway Expansion Phase II: 58 acres
Parkway Expansion Phase III: ~150 acres
Site Life: 2051

High Acres Nature Area

The High Acres Nature Area (HANA) is adjacent to and owned by WM's High Acres Landfill and Recycling Center. WM partners with the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Environmental Science program faculty and students to help manage HANA and conduct environmental research.

Pictured left: students and other volunteers gather to remove invasive species that can be a nuisance on the hiking trails.

Community Benefits

Organics and Yard Waste Composting

High Acres is home to an organics and yard waste composting diversion facility. On average 1,000,000 lbs./year of food waste from three local universities, St. John Fisher, Nazareth College, and the University of Rochester is collected from their dining halls and brought to High Acres for composting.

About 30,000,000 lbs./year of yard waste is diverted from the landfill for composting or upcycling into mulch. The finished compost is given back to residents of Perinton, as well as other municipalities in the area. The wood chips are useful to build trails or use in landscape applications. The leaf and brush are turned into a finished product that acts as a nice soil enhancement material to promote vegetative growth.

This give-back program is made available to Perinton residents as part of our ongoing yard waste recycling program. All Perinton residents’ tree, leaf, and yard debris are collected weekly by Perinton highway crews and managed by WM for reusable purposes. Making this material available for reuse saves landfill space and provides a valuable commodity for residents.

Recently, in May, High Acres partnered with Green Renewable Inc. and bagged approximately 2,000 bags of this homegrown compost to give away to Perinton community members free of charge. The program will return fall of 2022.

Food Waste

Photo of food waste collected from the local universities to convert into compost.

Tub Grinder

Drone footage of the tub grinder in use, grinding the tree brush into mulch and wood chips.

Free Compost

Photo of the homegrown compost bag design that is given away to Perinton residents.

Site Construction Activities

Landfill construction and operation at High Acres are governed by the facility’s New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) 6NYCRR Part 360 Permit, dated July 9, 2013. The NYSDEC approved landfill footprint in both the towns of Perinton and Macedon is 360 acres, which 266 acres have been constructed with 94 remaining to be constructed. The facility’s estimated remaining permitted site life has been calculated to be approximately 33 years. Photos and brief descriptions are provided below of recent and ongoing 2021 - 2022 construction activities.

Cell 15A

Cell 15A mass excavation began in January and will finish in December.

Cell 13B1

Cell 13B1 (7.6 Ac.) Cell construction complete.

Cell 12

(East slope of Cell 12) An additional 4- acres of the HDPE cap for additional odor control and gas collection was recently installed.

Street Safety

A temporary street light was placed on Quaker Road for traffic safety in June and will stay through August.

Cell 13B2 (3.5 Ac.) contracts have been awarded. Liner material deliveries have started. Earthworks / liner construction commenced in early June.

Summary

WM has been and continues to employ state-of-the-art odor control measures for the industry at the landfill, including more recent measures implemented and described in this update. We remain vigilant in our evaluation and implementation of best management practices and technology to enhance operations. WM continues its commitment to the Department and the community by continuing to conduct continuous ambient monitoring for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) at the South and North Monitoring Station and the Dudley/Northside School. The gas collection/control systems also continue to operate at a high level of efficiency during this quarter. The data supports that landfill gas is being collected and not migrating off-site and that there is no indication that emissions pose any health concerns. The site’s gas collection and control system, operating records, odor control programs, off-site H2S monitoring data, enhanced quarterly surface scans, DEC notification hotline and follow-up data from a trained odor detection investigator, and DEC inspection reports, all indicate the Landfill is operating in a manner that minimizes off-site odors to the greatest extent practicable.