Coastal Environmental Partnership’s Tuscarora Regional Landfill – New Bern, NC

MSW Landfill Phases 3-5

For the Tuscarora Regional Landfill—a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill with an average intake of 800 tons per day—LaBella provided engineering design, permitting, bid phase, construction administration, and construction quality assurance (CQA) services for Phase 3 (19.7 acres) and Phase 4 (17.25 acres).

As part of the Phases 3, 4, and 5 Expansion Permit-to-Construct applications, LaBella provided leachate management system design and updates and oversaw their construction. We also completed the pump designs and analysis of the existing leachate storage system for capacity.

In addition, LaBella designed traffic control systems, including access road design and layout, which responded to the landfill customers’ needs and were optimized to promote safety with maximized width, slope, and turning radius for heavy equipment moving throughout the site. Initial stockpile locations were developed through site assessment to maximize operational safety and minimize weather impacts to equipment and material. Haul roads were designed for heavy equipment traveling to and from established stockpile and borrow areas for initial waste placement operations.

Hydrogeologic Assessments

LaBella performed hydrogeologic field investigations for the:

• 7-acre Phase 3 expansion in 2009, installing a total of 23 piezometers and 14 monitoring wells.
• 25-acre Phase 4 expansion in 2016, installing a total of 11 piezometers and six monitoring wells.
• 14-acre Phase 5 expansion in 2021, installing 12 piezometers and five monitoring wells.

Most of the piezometers installed during the three investigations were shallow and deep pairs. Lithological and geotechnical data were collected from the borings during well/piezometer construction, including collection of nine Shelby tube samples for geotechnical laboratory testing. Four rounds of groundwater level measurements were performed approximately one month apart, and slug tests were performed on selected wells/piezometers to determine the hydraulic conductivity.

These data were used to demonstrate compliance with vertical separation requirements, establish foundation and aquifer characteristics, and provide a more detailed understanding of the hydrogeologic regime beneath the Phase 5 footprint. This information—required for landfill design—aids in the design of an effective water quality monitoring system and preparing the Phases 3, 4, and 5 Design Hydrogeologic Reports.

MSW Landfill Phases 1-3 Partial Closure

LaBella performed the engineering design, bid phase, construction phase, and CQA services for partial closure of the Tuscarora Regional Landfill in 2006 (Phase 1 closure), in 2010 and 2013 (Phase 2 partial closure), and in 2019 (Phase 3 partial closure).

Active Landfill Gas Extraction System

CEP operates an active landfill gas extraction system on a previously closed portion of the landfill. In 2007 and 2017, LaBella designed and permitted an expansion of the landfill gas extraction system to ensure future expandability, compliance with Title V air quality permitting requirements, and delivery of the gas to an on-site landfill gas-to-energy facility being constructed simultaneously in 2007.

Our team performed extensive coordination with the third-party landfill gas-to-energy plant to ensure that the gas was preprocessed sufficiently and delivered on time, satisfying the CEP’s obligations. Concurrently, LaBella ensured that the system expansion was brought online in a manner which minimized site odors.

In 2021 and 2024, LaBella provided CQA services for the landfill gas extraction system expansions (17 additional gas wells), bringing the total number of wells to 84 landfill gas wells and 14 cleanouts collectors.

New Flare/Blower Skid Station

In 2019, LaBella provided bid assistance and construction drawings for a new flare/blower skid station, designed to meet the third-party landfill gas-to-energy plant’s landfill gas delivery requirements. We helped CEP identify a qualified contractor, permitted, provided CQA services, and performed the initial flare performance testing for the construction of the new skid. The landfill gas-to-energy plant was involved throughout design and the construction.

We perform monthly system monitoring for regulatory compliance and to optimize the flow of 84 gas wells for maximum revenue potential. Our team’s efforts have consistently maintained the system in an operationally ready and profitable condition since the system came online in 2007.

LaBella prepared the original GCCS Design Plan and Title V Permit application, as well as an updated GCCS Design Plan and Title V permit application in 2020 for CEP to comply with the new NSPS XXX requirements as a result of the Phase 4 construction. LaBella also prepared the Title V permit renewal application in 2025, which included identifying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)-containing materials and uses.

On an annual basis, LaBella performs quarterly surface emissions monitoring and reporting, preparing all necessary compliance reports, including the Emissions Inventory (submitted via North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s (NCDEC) AERO site), the EPA’s required Greenhouse Gas Emissions report (submitted through the e-GGRT system), the Title V compliance certification, and semi-annual NSPS/SSM reports.

Annual Services

We provide annual capacity studies, as well as annual financial assurance services to CEP.

Fill Sequence Planning

As part of the Phases 3, 4 and 5 expansions at the Tuscarora Regional Landfill, LaBella developed a facility operations plan that included a fill sequencing plan narrative to accommodate initial waste placement accompanied by drawings to illustrate anticipated use of airspace over the lifespan of the constructed improvements.

On an as-needed basis, LaBella provides informal, boots-on-the-ground fill sequence planning to address challenges for the immediate future. Typical areas of discussion include waste placement, compaction and covering procedures, access and safety controls, sedimentation and erosion control measures, and leachate management procedures. These short-term fill sequence plans optimize use of airspace, increase efficiency, promote environmental compliance, and provide budget and scheduling certainty for CEP while maintaining adaptability to changes in waste volume and weather conditions.

Since 2004, LaBella has completed an annual management and operations review of the Tuscarora Regional Landfill, Grantsboro Transfer Station, and Newport Transfer Station. Initially, the review and resulting report were required by CEP’s Supplemental Bond Order adopted May 13, 1999. Though no longer a legal requirement, CEP’s Board of Directors chose to continue the annual report. Having a third-party engineer independently evaluate and report on CEP’s facilities and operations was deemed good management practice.

The annual review of this landfill, which has the capacity to process 1,000 tons of solid waste per day, consists of evaluating:

• Staffing workloads and schedules
• Landfill and transfer station equipment
• The active working face
• Access road
• Leachate management
• Landfill gas collection and control system operation
• Stormwater management
• Tire management
• Maintenance shop and administration
• Convenience center
• Green waste composting facilities

The safety and operation of the transfer stations are also included in this annual review and report. In addition to the annual evaluation, we facilitate a strategic planning session with CEP’s senior staff and Board of Directors every five years.

LaBella provides ongoing environmental services for CEP’s Tuscarora Regional Landfill, including groundwater and landfill gas monitoring and reporting as well as preparation of Water Quality Monitoring Plans, Landfill Gas Monitoring Plans, and Alternate Source Demonstrations.

Groundwater Monitoring and Reporting

LaBella conducts semiannual groundwater monitoring and reporting at the CEP Tuscarora Landfill in accordance with the North Carolina Solid Waste Management Regulations (NCSWMR) and the facility’s Water Quality Monitoring Plan. The monitoring network consists of 39 wells, two surface water points, and two underdrains.

We also provided sampling services for PFAS in accordance with the 2023 memoranda from the NCDEQ and compiled the results in separate supplemental sampling reports for submittal to the NCDEQ.

We completed the permitting for a Type 1 Composting Facility on the landfill property.