Islip landfill site of solar power project

A Hauppauge landfill closed because of its potential threats to the environment will soon be the home of Islip's latest alternative-energy project.

As part of the green initiative, 330 solar panels will be placed on the northwest corner of the Islip Town Landfill on Blydenburgh Road. The panels will produce 50 kilowatts of electricity daily, enough to run the active parts of the landfill now powered by Long Island Power Authority, officials said.

"This is taking a piece of property with no use and with a lot of expenses and using it to generate clean, renewable energy," Islip Supervisor Phil Nolan said Thursday at a groundbreaking event for the photovoltaic solar power project.

Islip Councilman John Edwards said the town anticipates the panels will produce a surplus of energy that the town may then sell to LIPA or convert into energy credits. He added that the project would be open to field trips from schoolchildren to demonstrate local alternative energy uses. "We need to find alternative sources of energy," he said. "This is how the Town of Islip can lead the way."

Michael Hervey, chief operating officer of LIPA, said Islip's "significant installation" is part of a growing movement toward solar energy on Long Island. Through programs established by LIPA in 2000, more than 4,000 solar installations have been completed, he said. "It's fantastic," Hervey said. "Islip is really a leader in this respect."

Edwards said he came up with the idea while touring the landfill in 2008. Soon after, he presented Nolan with his ideas. The solar panels should be installed and producing energy within six to eight weeks, he said.

The landfill, home to about 70 acres of garbage, was capped in the late 1990s as part of the U.S. Environmental Protect Agency's Superfund Program, an initiative designed to clean up the most hazardous sites nationwide.

Islip's solar project is jointly funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Town of Islip's Resource Recovery Agency. A town spokesman said Islip contributed about $225,000. A spokeswoman for Rep. Steve Israel (D-Dix Hills) said the congressman raised about $475,500 in federal funds for the project.

Edwards said the town would make the money invested in the project back within 10 years by producing its own energy and through potential energy sales.

Israel, who attended Thursday's groundbreaking, praised Islip for a project he said would save taxpayers money and reduce the town's dependency on foreign oil. "It's good for taxpayers' security and it's good for long-range national security," he said. "I hope it's a model for the rest of the country."