Fresh Kills
The Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island, New York, the largest landfill in the United States, became one of the largest middens or refuse heaps in human history. Opened in 1948, it became the highest man-made hill directly on the East Coast of the U.S. during its fifty year history.Under pressure from the US Environmental Protection Agency the Fresh Kills site was slated to close on March 22, 2001, and was officially closed for some months before the attacks of September 11, 2001.
After the World Trade Center collapse, Fresh Kills received most of the debris from the destruction. The name 'Fresh Kills' derives from the springs and seeps of fresh water formerly found in the area, but given its connection with 9/11 the name came to seem horribly ironic. Starting in 2003, a 2200 site was to be transformed into reclaimed wetlands, recreational facilities and landscaped public parkland, the largest expansion of the New York City parks since the development of the Bronx chain of parks in the 1890s.
