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ACUA proposes 5.74‑acre lateral, 40‑foot height expansion; residents and experts urge pause
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Summary
The Atlantic County Utilities Authority presented a plan to expand the county landfill by 5.74 acres and add up to 40 feet of height to extend capacity to about 2040; the presentation and a later ordinance reading drew sustained, emotional public testimony alleging odor, health effects and DEP violations, and prompted commissioners to consider tabling the matter for further review.
The Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) presented a proposal on March 3 to amend the county Solid Waste Management Plan to permit a limited lateral expansion (5.74 acres) and a vertical increase (peak ~40 feet) at the Delilah site in Egg Harbor Township. ACUA president Matt Dinafo outlined an estimated construction cost of about $25,000,000 and said the changes would provide roughly 15 years of additional capacity, to about 2040, at lower cost than larger expansions.
Dinafo detailed mitigation and modernization measures ACUA has pursued, including a $22,000,000 investment in gas‑collection infrastructure, temporary and permanent capping, and a renewable natural gas project that he said reduced emissions markedly. He told the board that the ACUA has not had a verified DEP odor complaint since March 2024 and that daily monitoring and DEP oversight are in place; he described a public process that began in August 2023 with municipal outreach, SWAC presentations and required notifications to county clerks and NJDEP.
Commissioners asked technical questions about visual impacts, FAA safety and bird‑strike mitigations, how odors would be handled during construction, and alternatives such as diversion or waste‑conversion technologies. ACUA said an RFP process for waste conversion is underway and that DEP review typically takes 18 months to two years.
During the public comment period a long line of residents and technical experts disputed ACUA’s portrayal of reduced impacts. A local engineer (John Gee) told the board he recorded hundreds of exceedances of the 30 parts‑per‑billion fence‑line standard and said he had measured concentrations he described as orders of magnitude above that level; multiple residents described chronic respiratory and other health issues, cited DEP verifications and ongoing federal litigation, and asked the board to deny or delay the ordinance. Several speakers recommended redirecting some waste out of county despite higher transport costs.
After public comment commissioners debated whether to table the ordinance for another meeting. Legal counsel for ACUA said the litigation referenced by residents should be resolved in court and urged the board to consider timing and capacity needs; one commissioner expressed willingness to table for one meeting to allow more public outreach. The board closed the public‑comment portion by voice vote and continued through consent‑agenda items, leaving procedural steps and the scheduled final hearing on the ordinance on the agenda for upcoming meetings (the clerk noted March 31 as the next meeting date for a public hearing slot).
The transcript records the ordinance being read and moved and seconded; the board did not take a final adoption vote on the ordinance during the March 3 meeting. Commissioners and ACUA leaders agreed to additional municipal outreach and to ongoing environmental monitoring and reporting as part of the review process.
What happened next: the county advanced routine resolutions and moved into executive session; the landfill plan amendment remains a pending matter scheduled for future consideration and DEP review.
