By Sunayana Prabhu
TINTON FALLS – Residents upset last year about foul odors wafting into their homes from the county landfill are now thanking borough and county officials for significantly reducing the stench. However, some say they are still hoping the landfill may one day be capped and retired.
“The stench at the mall years ago was tremendous three or four days a week, and I don’t think I’ve smelled that place at my mall lately, not a single day,” said Janet Porter, manager of the Jersey Shore Premium Outlets located east of the Monmouth County Reclamation Center (MCRC). Porter made the comments during the March 18 borough council meeting.
Monmouth County Commissioner Director Thomas A. Arnone reported significant improvements in controlling odors at the reclamation center, located on 900 acres in the middle of Tinton Falls at Asbury Avenue and Shafto Road.
Report on Progress
Monmouth County deputy administrator Geoffrey Perselay discussed the substantial investments the county has made in landfill improvements over the years, totaling $35 million.
According to his presentation, a $5 million temporary cap covers approximately 21 acres, spanning two-thirds of the landfill’s top deck and its northern slope, and is expected to remain in place for seven to eight years until reaching the maximum permitted height.
The ongoing phase four of the landfill, with construction costs of nearly $16 million, will provide trash management capacity for approximately 25 years and is scheduled for completion by December. The project will coincide with the closing of the current phase three area.
Additional slope capping is planned, with engineering design expected to be completed this spring and construction anticipated to begin in the fall.
Last year, residents were furious about the return of a stench from the landfill that was supposedly remediated in 2018. Similar odor problems were reported due to landfill leaching, methane, a large amount of rain and a repair project during which the facili- ty’s gas collection system was disconnected.
In 2019, the county hired Waste Management of New Jersey Inc. to operate and maintain the landfill that has been collecting over 400,000 tons of waste annually from 53 towns in Monmouth County. The Household Hazardous Waste Facility is located adjacent to the Reclamation Center and offers solid waste disposal facilities for residents.
“We wanted to run efficiently and keep people happy. That was our two goals,” Arnone said during the meeting. “We definitely are not making any money either. But that’s OK. Government’s not supposed to be here to make money. We’re supposed to improve quality-of-life issues.”
When residents complained about the smell again last year, officials from Waste Management attributed the surge in odor to months of “hard, heavy, fast” rainfall.
Future of the Landfill
Several residents are still urging officials to close the facility permanently to resolve the issue.
“When we were in this room for the 2019 discussions there was a lot of talk about Tinton Falls’ agreement with the county for the landfill, looking at the closure, and then, of course, COVID hit,” resident Marisa Scott said.
“It’s been brought up multiple times about figuring out a plan for closure. Is that anywhere in sight?” Scott asked.
“The landfill is 900 acres and we have mountains of trash. To close the landfill and go somewhere else is not really an option,” Perselay said. “What we can do is, when we get to the ultimate limit of a landfill, create a closure fund that we contribute to on a tonnage basis that goes to securing the landfill as a closed landfill, which accommodates tons of dirt cover material and the membranes that we put on for the temporary test. That will be the end of the day.”
“There will be a day it’s built out, without a doubt,” Arnone added. “I don’t know when that day is.”
“Right now, our main focus is that we are obligated to have a facility for trash. I did not put the landfill there. It was envisioned to be here for a very long time. To start a new landfill by DEP (state Department of Environmental Protection) regulations is very difficult. We’re obligated to put trash somewhere,” Arnone said, addressing ongoing community questions about the landfill’s ultimate closure timeline.
While not declaring the problem completely solved, officials and residents agreed that, after years of enduring the landfill odor, significant progress has been made in mitigating long-standing concerns.
The article originally appeared in the March 27 – April 2, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
