Council moves forward with BFI landfill settlement and transfer for community solar; residents press for cost and liability details

Residents used the meeting's public-comment portion to press the council for specifics about a resolution (R168) tied to the township's landfill and a proposed transfer of ownership to a company that would develop a community solar project.

George Kunkleman, a Monroe resident, said he had not been able to access details of the agreement and asked whether the township would recover roughly $5 million the township had spent to address landfill problems. A town official explained the transaction is designed to end existing litigation between the township and BFI, transfer ownership and operational responsibility for the landfill to the buyer, and take BFI out of the leasing/operation equation. The official said the township expects to enter a redevelopment agreement with the buyer but did not provide complete financial terms at that time.

Town officials and staff said permitting and regulatory approvals will be the buyer’s responsibility and that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection typically sponsors or encourages projects that pair landfill reuse and solar. The official said the buyer will be responsible for methane monitoring and leachate systems under environmental permits once ownership transfers.

Financial questions drew repeated public attention. Officials confirmed that the township has incurred roughly $4,100,000 in combined hard and soft costs for the pump station and force main to manage leachate; that work was funded via a bond ordinance and is being repaid according to the bond schedule. Town staff said the township plans to recapture those costs via a methodology that assigns an industrial sewer charge to appropriate users of the utilities system and that the landfill is treated as an industrial user for those charges. Officials said the precise financial details of the redevelopment agreement had not been finalized and would be provided when available.

During the consent-agenda vote the council approved the consent items (which included the BFI-related resolution R168). Residents asked for a future accounting showing how the township’s liability and expected savings compare over a 20- to 30-year horizon; officials said the closing will be coordinated with DEP approvals and that the sale/transfer and permitting are intended to be simultaneous to avoid a ‘gap’ in responsibility.

The public also raised technical questions about the extent of remediation (the town official said capping had been completed as required under the Superfund/DEP process, and that leachate systems remain in place) and about whether any money would be received upfront from the developer (the official said no material upfront payment to cover the township’s past costs was part of the transaction as described at the meeting).