Don’t blame it on this: Stafford and Fredericksburg are looking at solar farms in landfills

Decommissioned cells at the R-Board Regional Landfill on Eskimo Road in Stafford County could soon be covered with solar panels if a joint venture between Stafford County and the city of Frederickburg moves forward (photo courtesy of R-Board)

After visiting the R-Board regional landfill for the first time two years ago, Monica Gary couldn’t shake the feeling that the site was full of wasted potential.

Landfills, Gary explained, are not monolithic wastelands; rather, they are divided into cells that are withdrawn when a certain height or garbage capacity is reached.

In particular, the area atop these retired targets captured Gary’s imagination when she sat down for coffee after a visit with then-Stafford County Administrator Randy Vosburg.

In this case, the proverbial light bulb in her head was powered by solar energy.

“I said, ‘Hey, I really think we need to put solar on the expired cells at the landfill,’” recalled Gary, a member of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors and chairman of the R-Board. “We’re not going to do anything else with this land, so it was really untapped renewable energy potential.”

Gary’s vision can soon be realized in two locations through a joint venture between Stafford County and the City of Fredericksburg.

In addition to the 40-acre decommissioned cells at Eskimo Hill, the project includes approximately 96 acres in south Stafford, known as the former Cool Springs Road Landfill.

The landfill, which stopped accepting waste in 1988 and permanently closed in 1994, is owned by the City of Fredericksburg. At the May 14 City Council work session, City Manager Tim Baroody said the two jurisdictions have been in discussions about the project for more than a year.

“This is a fantastic example of regional cooperation and that we can work together to achieve a goal,” Gary said. “So I’m very proud of that.”

R-Board Director Phil Hathcock said he expects requests for proposals (RFPs) for the project to be released within the next two months. Requests for proposals will be published for approximately 60 days and a contract could be awarded within a year.

“The RFP is written to state that the defendant will lease land from the city and county to construct and operate a solar farm,” Hathcock wrote in an email.

Once the cells — or, in the case of Cool Springs, the entire landfill — are retired, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality regulations require the site to be monitored for methane emissions. This process is handled locally by renewable energy company Amaresco, Gary said.

Development possibilities on former landfills are limited due to underground “plugs” that limit disruption. During a May 14 work session, Deputy City Manager David Brown said any solar project would include “exploratory studies” to determine how deep into the ground drilling could go before reaching the upper level.

Gary said other communities have used similar spaces, creating outdoor parks or, if appropriate for the climate, ski slopes. One prominent example of landfill reuse is Trashmore Mountain in Virginia Beach, which opened in 1974 and covers 165 acres.

“I mean, it varies,” Gary said. “People are just getting so creative.”

How exactly the electricity generated by the photovoltaic farms will be used will be the subject of negotiations between the land owner(s) and the developer who will undertake the project. Fredericksburg and Stafford jointly own the R-Board facility, while the city owns the retired Cool Springs facility.

Any lease agreements would need to be approved by both the Stafford Board of Supervisors and the Fredericksburg City Council.

One option, according to Baroody, is to sell the energy generated back to Dominion Energy.

Councilor Jon Gerlach (Ward 2) asked if the city could use a solar project to achieve its goal of powering municipalities with 100% clean energy by 2035.

“I believe there is potential for it,” Baroody replied. “I believe the energy from this could be used to facilitate shopping outside the region… We think there is some synergy there.”