1. Site Description
2. Covanta Haverhill Energy from Waste Facility
3. Covanta Haverhill Ward Hill Neck Landfill
4. Links

1. Site Description
   
   Covanta Haverhill, Inc. is located on a 147 acre area in the Ward Hill Neck section of Haverhill, Massachusetts. The site is bordered by Interstate Route 495 to the east and by the Merrimack River to the north, south, and west.
   
   Covanta Haverhill, owned and operated by Covanta Energy, Inc, began commercial operation in June 1989. The site presently includes the Energy from Waste Municipal Waste Combustor facility (MWC), the 70 acre Ward Hill Neck Landfill, a Fleet Maintenance Garage (FMG) and a parts warehouse.
    
2. Covanta Haverhill Energy from Waste (EfW) Facility
   
   The Covanta Haverhill Energy from Waste facility operates two 825 tons-per-day municipal waste combustors equipped with Martin® reverse-reciprocating grates and Zurn Waterwall Boilers. The combustors operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and are designed to combust a combined 1,650 tons per day of municipal solid waste (MSW). The combustion process reduces the volume of the solid waste being landfilled by almost 90%, increasing the landfill capacity 10-fold.  See the Covanta Energy from Waste Facility diagram.
   
   From the combustion of the waste, each boiler produces up to 225,000 pounds of steam per hour. The steam generated from the boilers is supplied to a steam turbine that drives an electric generator capable of producing up to 49 Megawatts of renewable electricity. Covanta Haverhill uses approximately 5 Megawatts for its own machinery and the remainder is provided to the New England power grid system.
   
   Air Pollution Controls
   The municipal waste combustor boilers are equipped with state of the art pollution control equipment including:

• Highly efficient Martin Stoker combustion controls to destroy organic compounds such as dioxins and control the formation of carbon monoxide emissions;
• Covanta patented LoNOx control systems and SNCR injection systems to control nitrogen oxides;
• Lime injection scrubbers that utilize a lime/water slurry mixture to neutralize acid gases, such as sulfur dioxide and hydrogen chloride;
• Carbon injection system to reduce metal emissions including mercury and;
• Fabric filter baghouse to remove dust and contaminants from the flue gas before it exits the stack.

The flue gas exiting the stack is continuously monitored by CEM computers in the operations center to make sure emissions levels are in compliance with regulations. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MA DEP) has established compliance regulations, which are in most cases, even stricter than are mandated by the federal US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Covanta Haverhill, in turn, maintains levels of emissions even lower than what is required by the MA DEP regulations.

Ash System
The combined ash residue is moistened, cooled, and further processed to remove metals for recycling. The ash is classified as non-hazardous waste in accordance with USEPA and MA DEP standards, and is landfilled at the on-site state of the art Ward Hill Neck landfill.
 

3. Ward Hill Neck Landfill
   
   The Ward Hill Neck landfill was first constructed in the early 1980’s as a municipal solid waste landfill. In 1988, the MA DEP approved a Master Plan for the landfill that detailed the development of the landfill in 14 phases (I – XIV) to provide for 20 years of residual disposal capacity. In 2003, the DEP approved an expansion that added phases XV and XVI to the site’s capacity. The current facility is approximately 70 acres in area.
   
   Prior to the Energy from Waste facility, the landfill accepted municipal solid waste from area towns. Since 1989 and the startup of the EfW facility, the landfill has generally only accepted ash from municipal waste combustors. However, it does serve as an emergency MSW waste bypass facility in case an emergency should occur at the municipal waste combustors.
   
   At this time, the Landfill Phases I-IX, XIII and XIV have been filled and closed utilizing a MA DEP approved cap design. Phases XI, XII and XV are currently permitted for waste. Phase X was eliminated from the master plan. Phase XVI will be constructed in the future.
   
   The newest landfill cells are equipped with a 7-layer liner system, one of the most stringent liner designs in the country. There are 3 primary layers, a leak detection layer that is continuously monitored, and 3 additional protective layers. Water that percolates down through the waste to the liner system is collected onsite as Leachate.  The treated leachate is pumped back to the Energy from Waste facility to be reused for cooling the ash and the air pollution control equipment.  Since 2003, Covanta Haverhill has not discharged any wastewater (EfW facility or landfill) to the city of Haverhill’s sewer system. The recycling of wastewater has also reduced the amount of fresh water that the facility must utilize from the municipal water supply.
   
   All closed capped areas of the landfill are equipped with a landfill gas (LFG) collection system. The LFG system serves to collect landfill gas generated from MSW waste, prevent odors to the community, and prevent greenhouse gas (methane) emissions.  Once collected, the gas is safely combusted in an onsite landfill Gas Engine to generate 1.6 megawatts of renewable electricity thus reducing greenhouse gases from fossil fuels.
   
   Fleet Maintenance Garage (FMG)
   The FMG is utilized to maintain and repair the transportation fleet, all landfill equipment, front-end loaders used at the EfW, and all miscellaneous mobile equipment.
    
4. Links
   
   For more information on Covanta Energy visit the corporate website: http://www.covantaholding.com
   
   For more information on Municipal Waste Combustors and their regulations, visit the MA DEP’s website at: http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/solid/mwc.htm