question: Why can't cities like NYC and Boston create landfill to build on like they did in the past?
comment: Not to be snarky, but why would they want to? That waterfront area is now incredibly valuable, the people/companies owning the land there want to keep it the way it is to maximize their value. And filling in the bay/harbor is expensive- why not build in other directions that might be cheaper? Finally, skyscrapers need solid foundations- part of the reason Manhattan is so built up is that the bedrock that supports the skyscrapers is close to the surface level, making it easier to build tall structures. Filling in the harbor would add to the depth that pilings would need to be driven (you’d need to go through the landfill, then through the mud below it to hit bedrock). I’m not sure what you mean about the “tub” at the WTC- I believe that construction cleared the land down to the bedrock and then built retaining walls to keep the surrounding soil/structures from collapsing in, along with any potential water seepage. But the structure sits on solid rock, it’s not floating.
passages: New York's municipal incinerators peaked in capacity with twenty-one plants in 1937 and declined during World War II, when salvage and conservation programs reduced the use of combustibles. The result was the closing of nine of the city's incinerators and a sharp reduction in the combustion of waste by 1944. By 1946, only ten incinerators were in operation, with capacity having declined by half since 1937. This meant more solid waste for the city's eight landfills to handle. However, the two landfills in Brooklyn and the two in the Bronx had, respectively, just one and two years left before reaching capacity. Only one landfill, Edgemere Landfill in Queens, had a long-term future, and as such, an alternative site had to be found.
   Modern landfills are designed to handle normal amounts of HHW and minimize the environmental impacts. However, there are still going to be some impacts and there are many ways that homeowners can keep these wastes out of landfills.
   Modern landfills are specifically designed to protect human health and the environment by controlling water and air emissions. All MSWLF must comply with the federal regulations in 40 CFR Part 258, or equivalent state regulations. Some of the federal regulations in 40 CFR part 258 include:
  
  BULLET::::- Location Restrictions - landfills must be built in suitable geological areas away from faults, wetlands, flood plains or other restricted areas.
   Federal requirements mandate that treatment must meet drinking water quality standards, which are set to prevent harm to public health, or more stringent state standards to protect sensitive environments (high quality streams, trout streams).
  
  Section::::Regulation.:Groundwater Monitoring.
   During this period, the dump was in a state of flux. Original plans showed the dump with a twenty-year lifespan. One plan for the West Shore Expressway bridge across Fresh Kills included a tide gate, which would have blocked Plant 2's marine access. The bridge, when finally built in 1959, actually enhanced operations. The bridge was finished long before the rest of the expressway and was used by workers to travel between the two plants.
  
  Section::::History.:Issues.
   The 2010 New York State Hazardous Waste Facility Siting Plan also presents important information when evaluating the TSDF's in each county. Chapter 1 of the siting plan states that ten-day transfer stations, generators that store for less than 90 days, facilities or locations for collecting household hazardous wastes, facilities for collecting non-manifested waste such as universal waste, sanitary landfills, and trucks are not included as TSD facilities in the detailed analyses included in the plan. This shows that not all hazardous waste facilities are taken into consideration when examining the eligibility of a county for building more facilities. Omitting such facilities from the analyses presents inaccurate calculations and assumptions. Those facilities still emit pollution and wastes, regardless of the size of facility or time-length of the waste transfer. 
   It had a certain nightmare quality. ... I can still recall looking down on the operation from a control tower and thinking that Fresh Kills, like Jamaica Bay, had for thousands of years been a magnificent, teeming, literally life-enhancing tidal marsh. And in just twenty-five years, it was gone, buried under millions of tons of New York City's refuse.
   Landfill mining is also possible in countries where land is not available for new landfill sites. In this instance landfill space can be reclaimed by the extraction of biodegradable waste and other substances then refilled with wastes requiring disposal.
   In 1979, the EPA developed criteria for sanitary landfills that included siting restrictions in floodplains; endangered species protection; surface water protection; groundwater protection; disease and vector (rodents, birds, insects) control; opening burning prohibitions; explosive gas (methane) control; fire prevention through the use of cover materials; and prevention of bird hazards to aircraft.
   Section::::Social and environmental impact.:Vectors.
  
  Poorly run landfills may become nuisances because of vectors such as rats and flies which can spread infectious diseases. The occurrence of such vectors can be mitigated through the use of daily cover.
  
  Section::::Social and environmental impact.:Other nuisances.
  
  Other potential issues include wildlife disruption, dust, odor, noise pollution, and reduced local property values.
  
  Section::::Landfill gas.
   BULLET::::- Landfills: These are technically designed areas where waste is disposed scientifically. They are characterized by liners that prevent seepage of leachates into the groundwater. There are different designs for landfills used for municipal solid waste or household waste, construction & demolition waste, and hazardous waste. According to an EPA report, the number of municipal solid waste landfills has gone down from 7924 in 1988 to 1754 in 2006. There were close to 1900 construction & demolition landfills in 1994.
   Section::::History.
  
  Section::::History.:Landfill.
  
  The landfill opened in 1948 in what was then a salt marsh in a rural agricultural area. The subsoil was made up of clay, with sand and silt as the top layer of soil. The land still contains large amounts of wildlife within the boundaries of the landfill. There were tidal wetlands, forests, and freshwater wetlands. The area, being in a swamp and wetlands, was prime for the landfill, being far removed from the rest of New York City at the time (Staten Island's connection to the rest of the city in 1947 was by ferry).
   Marble Hill is one example of how Manhattan's land has been considerably altered by human intervention. The borough has seen substantial land reclamation along its waterfronts since Dutch colonial times, and much of the natural variation in its topography has been evened out.
  
  Section::::Geography.:Components.:Smaller islands.
  
  In New York Harbor, there are three smaller islands:
  
  BULLET::::- Ellis Island, shared with New Jersey
  
  BULLET::::- Governors Island
  
  BULLET::::- Liberty Island
  
  Other smaller islands, in the East River, include (from north to south):
  
  BULLET::::- Randalls and Wards Islands, joined by landfill
  
  BULLET::::- Mill Rock
  
  BULLET::::- Roosevelt Island
  
  BULLET::::- U Thant Island (legally Belmont Island)
   U.S. landfills are regulated by each state's environmental agency, which establishes minimum guidelines; however, none of these standards may fall below those set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
  
  Permitting a landfill generally takes between five and seven years, costs millions of dollars and requires rigorous siting, engineering and environmental studies and demonstrations to ensure local environmental and safety concerns are satisfied.
  
  Section::::Types.
  
  BULLET::::- Municipal solid waste: takes in household waste and nonhazardous material. Included in this type of landfill is a Bioreactor Landfill that specifically degrades organic material.
   Section::::History.
  
  The Shpack landfill was situated on land owned by Isadore and Lea Shpack. Isadore Shpack, a Russian Jewish immigrant and retired New York City municipal employee, began allowing dumping on the property in an effort to fill in its swamp. He then planned to raise an orchard and cultivate vegetables on the reclaimed land. Shpack allowed completely unregulated dumping and is reported locally to have accepted any type of waste which was refused by the neighbouring municipal landfill.
   In May 2007, the Parks Department designated Rockaway Community Park, Bayswater Park, and Beach Channel West park in Belle Harbor as parks with off-leash areas for dogs. In 2009, Queens Community Board 14 district manager Jonathan Gaska proposed using the Edgemere Landfill as a solar panel field. The proposal was suggested to the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), which provides electricity to the Rockaways. It was supported by New York State Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer.
   BergerWorld reported in its 2nd Quarter 2006 report: "Berger, teamed with URS, is assisting the New York City Department of Environmental Protection in the $160 million, Pennsylvania & Fountain Avenue Landfills (PAFAL) closure project in Brooklyn, NY, one of the largest closures ever undertaken in the state of New York"
   By the late 1980s and 1990s the locate site were near capacity forcing authorities to look beyond for landfill to take their waste:
  
  BULLET::::- Adams Mine - former iron ore pit mine that was slated to take Toronto waste in the 1990s, but rejected by then Metro Toronto council
  
  BULLET::::- Green Lane landfill - landfill near London, Ontario and purchased by Toronto in 2006 to handle waste from the city.
  
  BULLET::::- Carleton Farms Landfill - landfill in Wayne County, Michigan that accepted Toronto's garbage from 2002 to 2006.
  
  Section::::See also.
   As a result of strong community pressure, a state law was passed in 1996 requiring that the landfill cease accepting solid waste by the end of 2001. By 1997, two of the four landfill mounds were closed and covered with a thick, impermeable cap. The landfill received its last barge of garbage on March 22, 2001.
   The plan was opposed by Staten Island residents and their representatives. Assemblyman Edmund P. Radigan introduced a secession bill in the Legislature. A bill was passed (later vetoed by the governor) requiring all garbage to be incinerated before being placed in a landfill. Ellsworth B. Buck, called for the federal government to step in and stop the project. Cornelius Hall, when he was the city's public works commissioner, opposed the project, but when he became the Borough President of Staten Island, he surprised residents by backing the plan, saying: "I am firmly convinced that a limited landfill project can be undertaken at Fresh Kills, a project that would prove of great value to the island through the reclamation of valuable land from now worthless marshland. Hall intended the landfill to be part of a proposed belt highway along Staten Island's west shore, which was approved by Moses in exchange his support of the landfill. Hall went on to say "I want [landfilling] operations limited to [a] period not to exceed three years ... I am going along with this proposal because I believe ... we are in a position to use this fill to our advantage, for the development of the West Shore of Staten Island, which is essential.". The talk of using Fresh Kills for only three years may have been a ploy to allow Hall to save face politically. As described in an inter-departmental report from 1946: "Because of the substantial sums involved in the preparation and acquisition of the [Fresh Kills] site, [in order to justify this expense] the City must dispose of refuse at this location for a number of years." 
   The Fresh Kills site is to be transformed into reclaimed wetlands, recreational facilities and landscaped public parkland, the largest expansion of the New York City parks since the development of the chain of parks in the Bronx during the 1890s. The new park will be designed by James Corner Field Operations, the landscape architecture firm also responsible for the design of the High Line in Manhattan.
   In 1946, New York City purchased a site, which was considered worthless swamp land in what was then a rural agricultural area in Staten Island, for a proposed three-year municipal waste dump, as a temporary solution to the closing of the Rikers Island Landfill. The plan was endorsed by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority chairman, Robert Moses. He wanted the area to be developed as Staten Island's industrial base, as it was opposite the Arthur Kill from the heavy industry of New Jersey. Moses saw the project as key to the development of the island, and with it, the possibility of more parkland, highways, industry, and possibly even an airport.
   In 1984, the Edgemere Landfill was listed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) among 895 hazardous-waste sites in the state and among 144 that required top priority to be cleaned up. That year, the city began negotiations with the state to close the Edgemere and Fountain Avenue Landfills.
   The uniqueness of many landfills makes it difficult to apply test results from one site to another. Measuring properties of landfills such as waste unit weight could lead to health concerns, as the handling of waste could be dangerous. Accessing this waste would likely involve damaging the cover liner, which could compromise the ability of the system to function properly. Landfills are systems which change over time, so periodic evaluations may be necessary.
   BULLET::::- Love Canal, Niagara Falls
  
  BULLET::::- Pfohl Brothers Landfill, Cheektowaga, closed in 1971, a Superfund site
  
  BULLET::::- Seneca Meadows Landfill, Seneca Falls
  
  BULLET::::- Fresh Kills Landfill, Staten Island
  
  Section::::North Carolina.
  
  BULLET::::- Highpoint C&D Landfill
  
  BULLET::::- Red Rock Disposal Landfill
  
  BULLET::::- Sampson County Landfill
  
  BULLET::::- South Wake MSW LAndfill
  
  BULLET::::- Warren County PCB Landfill, now closed
  
  Section::::Ohio.
  
  BULLET::::- Krejci Dump, near Boston Heights, closed in 1986, a Superfund site
  
  BULLET::::- Rumpke Sanitary Landfill, north of Cincinnati
  
  Section::::Rhode Island.
  
  BULLET::::- Central Landfill, in Johnston
  
  Section::::South Carolina.
  
  BULLET::::- Curry Lake C&D Landfill
  
  BULLET::::- L&L C&D Landfill
  
  BULLET::::- Shiloh C&D Landfill
  
  Section::::Tennessee.
  
presuppositions: Creating landfill for cities to build on has value. 
corrections: Creating landfill for cities to build on does not have value. .
raw_presuppositions: Creating landfill for cities to build on has value.  Cities cannot create new land from landfill like they did in the past.
raw_corrections: Creating landfill for cities to build on does not have value. . Cities could create new land from landfill, but there are better/cheaper ways to build.