Dartmouth media students ‘talk trash’ as Crapo Hill nears capacity

With Crapo Hill landfill approximately four years away from reaching capacity, the Dartmouth High School media students worked with the Greater New Bedford Greater New Bedford Regional Refuse Management District staff to create informational videos on how the community can help increase the time left and what will happen afterward.

This project is just one of many Robert Perrotti, the lead teacher for the Business, Innovation and Technology Department, has been encouraging his students to do in order to grow and develop their connection with the community.

Though the rainy weather kept them at the high school, the team used their green screens and editing skills to make it appear as if the students were able to make it to the landfill on Thursday, June 6. 

Students said though they wished to have been able to actually visit the landfill, they felt the project still came out a success, with sophomore Nora Gomes, noting, “It [was] really cool and we got to learn a lot.”

“The remaining space left for trash is dwindling,” said Marissa Perez-Dormitzer, waste reduction manager, of the Crapo Hill landfill. “That’s why it’s important for all of us to make less trash. We can do our part by recycling paper, cardboard, bottles and cans and using drop-off programs for clothing, shoes, electronics and more.”

The refuse management district also launched a pilot food-waste drop-off program Tuesday, June 18. 

Perez-Dormitzer explained to students that by reducing the influx of trash to Crapo Hill, the available cells, or zones, may last longer than the anticipated four years. After the landfill reaches capacity, disposal will become more costly for residents as they will have to turn to alternative sources, she added.

“These small actions make a big difference,” she said.

Yard waste is another form of trash that can be disposed of separately from the landfill. In a video focused on this topic, students discuss Crapo Hill’s free yard disposal option as well as the compost bins that are available for purchase.

Because the organic materials in yard waste are banned from the landfill, Crapo Hill staff have a separate pile that is then used for composting as a more sustainable option, according to Meg Hebert, Crapo Hill landfill associate. This compost can be reintroduced into the soil instead of taking up space in the landfill.

When trash does make it into the landfill, heavy machines are used to compact the waste “so that it takes up as little space as possible,” said Shawn Peckham, operations advisor. This is then covered to prevent odors.

He added a “liner system” is used to protect Dartmouth’s groundwater and when a cell of the landfill becomes full, a second liner is placed on top to seal the waste inside.

“A landfill is much more than a pile of trash,” Peckham said. “There’s a lot of engineering that goes into making sure that the trash is contained and doesn’t pollute our environment.”

He said the hope is to add another cell to the landfill, but eventually it will reach capacity.”

Freshman Seth Gates said the engineering aspects of the landfill were most interesting for him to learn about.

Freshman Annabelle Zariv said, “Making the script was fun and easy and I like asking questions — even though they didn’t use my fun ones.”

She added the project itself has encouraged her to think more about landfills across the country that may also soon be reaching capacity.

In a video focused on methane gas, Executive Director Anthony Novelli explained that methane gas is produced by the decomposing organic material at the landfill, which is then transferred through a piping system to the landfill’s gas to energy facility. This energy is then sent through National Grid to power approximately 1,700 homes annually.

Sophomore Molly Bell said she appreciated the opportunity to work with members from the community.

“It was really interesting,” Bell said, adding, “Being able to help out with more wider scale projects is really cool.”

“I hope we get to do more stuff like this in the future,” Bell said.