Jul. 24--Lower Paxton Twp. supervisors, in what literally could be a trash-to- treasure maneuver, are considering turning six acres of their closed municipal landfill into a solar farm.

"This is all very preliminary," Jeffrey Wendle, engineer with CET Engineering Services of Lower Paxton, said as he presented supervisors with his ideas about such a project. "It's technically feasible, but a lot of work has to be done, especially about the funding."

Developing a solar panel field at the landfill on Conway Road would cost around $14 million, according to officials of Energy Systems & Installations Inc. of Hershey, a business that provides alternative energy solutions to agricultural, commercial and industrial businesses through the coordination of creative financing and government incentives.

ESI officials, who visited the landfill in May, determined that creating a system capable of providing 3 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year would cost $14 million. They said that includes placement of fill to provide an adequate soil layer to anchor the solar panels.

"The relatively large land area required to produce a significant amount of electrical power is typically an economic disincentive," Wendle said. "The Lower Paxton Twp. landfill, however, provides a large area of south-facing open land that would be available at no cost to the township."

Wendle said that energy produced at the landfill could be sold to the power company to offset electrical use at the Swatara Twp. Waste Water Treatment Plant, about two miles away. Then, he said, a credit applied to a part of Lower Paxton Twp.'s cost of that plant's operation.

Jerry Miller, director of the Swatara Twp. Authority, which runs that plant, said he would like to learn more about the project.

"The plant uses a lot of electricity," Miller said. "We have a blower building which blows oxygen into an aeration tank 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As we upgrade the plant for the Chesapeake Bay requirements and add a dryer to dry the sludge, the plant will use even more electricity."

Gene Lank, the plant assistant superintendent, said he, too, would be interested in hearing details of the proposed solar farm.

"There are two alternatives for funding this project," Wendle said, listing private investment and government loans and grants. "If we can get funding for the project and make it cost-efficient, the supervisors can seriously look at it."

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