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for a landfill. Leonard Joyce noted that for the four sites under ration at this time he has the actual acreage that will be needed for ill. He reported the following information: SITE AMEBAS TOTAL ACREAGE USABLE ACREAGE FILL AREA 2 1,068 818 506 300-450 acres 9 1,113 824 598 100-200 acres it 827 1,643 1,134 350-450 acres 17 475 853 514 150-250 acres In answer to a question from Commissioner Insko on the number of years a landfill of this size could be used, Mr. Joyce stated that, making a relative comparison without knowing anything about the subsurface conditions but purely because of the size of acreage, site OC11 would last slightly longer than site OC17. QUESTION: (Two similar questions) (1) Taking into account our present landfill rate of acreage use, new federal regulations, and mandated state reduction goals, why wouldn't less than 200 acres of land be sufficient for the next 20 years? (2) The next landfill will likely be much smaller than the total area of the sites now under consideration. What are the factors (buffers, for example) that make the landfill sites as large as they are? Can we cite smaller landfill site sizes and begin talking in those terms? ANSWER: Mr. Joyce stated that throughout this process, the logic has been to go from a general size down to a more specific size based on the process they have been following. The acreage quoted was based on work as it progressed. It is important to understand and remember that, at this point in the process, engineers have not been on any of the sites and know nothing about the subsurface conditions. His advice to the committee throughout this process is that it is more prudent at this point to start with a larger area and work toward a smaller area. There will be information they will discover as the process continues that will reduce these sizes. Some of the possibilities that may reduce the acreage include (1) knowing the physical features and limitations these may impose - groundwater elevations, depth of soil, depth to rock, wetlands, and drainage ways, (2) when developing a landfill site, understanding how many soil resources (quantity and characteristics) are present on that particular site for the entire life of that site. He emphasized that within these sizes identified, there likely will be areas that may not be able to be used for development or may need to be used for borrow areas which will further reduce the amount of development area and impact the life of that particular site. When the final decision on a particular site is made, the issues will be the impact of that site to the neighbors, noise, dust, odors and traffic problems. If there is a site that is large enough and there is some room to apply some additional buffers to compensate for some of these concerns, the neighbors can be easier to work with. Another issue is that.. once a tract of land is identified, that all owners of the property may not want to sell.