Underfunded Post-Closure Cover Repairs and Maintenance

$1,500-$4,500 per acre annually (beyond initial estimates); 50-100 acre sites lose $75,000-$450,000 per year; multiplied across municipality's landfill portfolio creates 30-year liability of $2.25M-$13.5M in underfunded reserves • $1,500-$4,500 per acre annually in unanticipated repair costs (baseline $1,500 stated, doubling to tripling typical for full funding gap); municipalities with 100-500 acre sites facing $150,000-$2,250,000 annual budget shortfalls; 30-year net present value impact: $11M-$28M per facility under-reserved • Industrial facility underestimates post-closure liability by 40-60% (groundwater remediation excluded); $500K-$2M+ in unexpected cleanup costs borne by operator or regulatory agency if facility becomes insolvent; regulatory agency loses recovery options if financial assurance is exhausted prematurely

Excel modeling of closure costs submitted with permit application; consultant-prepared post-closure plan filed once and rarely updated; groundwater data stored in lab reports and email; financial assurance mechanism (trust fund/letter of credit) set at initial calculation and not adjusted for inflation or scope creep • Excel spreadsheets for manual budget tracking; email chains between engineering consultants and finance; deferred maintenance lists on shared drives; emergency budget appropriations filed reactively after failures occur; paper inspection reports not integrated with financial systems • Excel spreadsheets with manual cost tracking; email chains for maintenance scheduling; paper inspection logs; ad-hoc budget amendments approved annually as repairs exceed estimates