Freshkills Park

In 1948 Fresh Kills Landfill opened on Staten Island.  Conceived by Robert Moses as a temporary solution to the city's waste, over the next half century, 29,000 tons of trash were barged daily transforming the 2,200 acre sea level wetland into the world's largest landfill (a milestone it had reached by 1955) with 200' tall garbage hills.  In 1996 Mayor Giuliani and Governor Pataki agreed to close the dump possibly responding to a combination of public pressure, potential federal litigation, and the fact that 1997 was an election year.  On March 22, 2001 the last barge finally delivered its load of refuse only to be reopened after Sept 11th to accept the debris from the World Trade Center which was carefully sifted by the NYC Medical Examiner's office for human remains. 

An international design competition was held in 2001 and won by James Corner. Typically a garbage dump will produce gas and effluent as the pile decomposes.  Essentially the design solution is a sophisticated way of encapsulating the waste pile so that whatever additional decomposition might occur will be very limited and the runoff and gas can be vented and purified.  Once the base is stable, 30" worth of barriers, filters and soils are layered on.  Then it is planted.  The process is quite time consuming and expensive; it will take until 2036 until everything is completed.  By 2020 the first Sedge Wren had built a nest.