Princeton approves $312,453 contract for landfill cap repairs, staff says long-term monitoring will continue

The Mayor and Council of Princeton on May 12 authorized a professional-services agreement with T&M Associates for corrective measures, environmental permitting, and construction administration related to repairs at the Princeton Sanitary Landfill in an amount not to exceed $312,453. Council member David moved the resolution and Council member Brian McDonald seconded; the motion passed by voice vote.

When Council member David asked whether the work related to prior contamination cleanup and whether the contract would complete remediation, a municipal staff member identified in the meeting as Diana responded that the contract is not related to illegal activity previously remediated on other parts of the site. “This is solely related to just a degradation of the cap of the landfill, and we have areas where we need to go in and do some repairs,” Diana said. She added that after the construction work and Department of Environmental Protection approval, the corrective actions would be complete in the construction sense but that landfills generally require ongoing annual monitoring — for gas emissions, groundwater, and maintenance — for at least a 20-year period after closure.

The resolution funds engineering and permitting work to repair the landfill cap and to administer construction and inspection. The council did not discuss a detailed construction schedule or funding source breakdown during the meeting; those details will be handled through the awarded contract and subsequent work plans with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) permitting process. No changes to local land-use law or additional remediation orders were issued at the meeting.