newjerseynewsroom.com

Landfill trying to be a good neighbor

If you've ever driven behind a sanitation truck on a hot summer day, you know that the odor is far from pleasant.

Imagine living nearby a 200-plus acre landfill site that receives more than 1,000 tons of garbage a day.

"It's terrible," said Jerri Shink, of Ellison Road, who spoke to The Star-Ledger. "You can't open a window. At times [the smell] will permeate the walls."

Officials now, however, are trying to come up with a solution that will curb the stench, which has tried the patience, not to mention the olfactory nerves, of residents for years.

A flatbed truck equipped with special nozzles has been deployed to wind through the garbage, releasing a secret weapon: hundreds of gallons of a fragrant, soapy, slightly citrus-scented spray, the report said.

Landfill managers are confident the oversized air freshening device will help mask the unpleasant odor.

The MCUA implemented the system earlier this summer after examining a similar model at a landfill in Ocean County, Fitamant told The Star-Ledger.

But it's not an easy task, controlling all that smell.

The East Brunswick site — formerly known as Edgeboro Landfill — is larger than six football fields and is scheduled to receive 500,000 to 520,000 tons of trash this year, the second most of any county in the state behind Bergen.

That's a lot of smells.

— ANGELA DAIDONE, NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM