Shaffer Landfill - Solar Installation
Client: Shaffer Landfill
Location: Billerica, MA
Project Description: Site work contractor for a 6.0 MW solar installation.
A US Environmental Protection Agency superfund site, the Shaffer Landfill consisted of two landfills that shared a one-lane access road. The solar arrays that were installed were a ground-mounted, precast concrete ballast block system. Because of the steepness of the site slopes, the racking system was designed to interconnect both east-west and north-south. This made the ballast block placement and alignment critical to the racking assembly. Further, only low ground pressure equipment could operate on the landfill surface, and the staging area was fairly small. Added to these challenges was the winter of record-breaking cold and snow during which the work was performed. TFCI was able to adapt to the harsh weather, rented an ultra-low ground pressure plow (Snowcat ski area grooming machine), and plowed approximately 25 acres of the landfill without damaging the cap. More than 4,000 precast concrete ballast blocks were set for support of the array racking. TFCI constructed six inverter pad foundations on the landfill and upgraded approximately one-half mile of access road.
The project completion date was fixed due to the constraints of the State Solar Renewable Energy Certifications program. TFCI completed the work on time and with no damage to the landfill cap.
The project was the first solar array installation in the nation constructed on a superfund site, and was awarded the EPA’s Superfund Excellence in Site Reuse Award for the New England Region.