LCSWMA - Harrisburg - Virtual Tour
Welcome to LCSWMA’s Susquehanna Resource Management Complex (SRMC) virtual tour! To get started, click on the thumbnails below. For the best experience, we recommend clicking through the thumbnails in order from left to right. As you explore, you’ll notice a variety of buttons called “hotspots”. Click on the hotspot to access more information.
Welcome
This location includes 5 hotspots. Be sure to click on all of them. Click the button at the right bottom of the screen to advance to the next location.
The SRMC is permitted to process up to 800 tons of waste per day. LCSWMA contracts with Covanta Energy to operate the facility 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
LCSWMA acquired the SRMC in December 2013 to secure future WTE capacity and initiate a regionalized approach to managing municipal solid waste for Lancaster and Dauphin Counties.
Scalehouse
This location includes 4 hotspots. Click the arrow in the bottom left corner of the screen to go back to the previous location or click the button in the bottom right corner of the screen to go to the next location.
Meet a LCSWMA Weighmaster
A LCSWMA Weighmaster is responsible for ensuring that all trucks are weighed-in at the facility in a safe manner, preventing unauthorized types of waste from being delivered to the site and directing customers to the appropriate drop-off area.In order to become a Weighmaster in Pennsylvania, one must obtain a Weighmaster License from the Department of Agriculture.
Before entering the site, all vehicles must pass through radiation detection monitoring equipment to ensure no loads are carrying hazardous waste.
All vehicle traffic is weighed in when entering the facility and again on the way out. The difference in vehicle weight determines the tipping fee or disposal fee.
At LCSWMA, we generate revenue through our tipping fees, so no tax money is used to support our system.
TMA Tipping Floor
This location includes 2 hotspots. Click the arrow in the bottom left corner of the screen to go back to the previous location or click the button in the bottom right corner of the screen to go to the next location.
Known as the TMA Building, which stands for Transfer Maintenance Administration, it was constructed to improve both operational flow and customer experience.
The building is primarily used for construction/demolition waste loads and smaller customer deliveries, which keeps residents and small haulers off the main tipping floor.
WTE Plant
This location includes 2 hotspots. Click the arrow in the bottom left corner of the screen to go back to the previous location or click the button in the bottom right corner of the screen to go to the next location.
On average, the plant processes over 300,000 tons of waste annually! The result of the WTE process is production of clean, renewable energy that powers State Capitol buildings!
As you can imagine, it takes highly trained professionals to run a waste-to-energy facility, which is why LCSWMA partners with the best in the business, Covanta Energy.
LCSWMA owns the SRMC and contracts with Covanta to operate the plant. A leader in WTE, Covanta owns and/or operates 37 WTE facilities in North America, including six in Pennsylvania.
WTE Tipping Floor
This location includes 3 hotspots. Click the arrow in the bottom left corner of the screen to go back to the previous location or click the button in the bottom right corner of the screen to go to the next location.
Once the waste is deposited on the floor, heavy equipment pushes the trash into the waste storage pit.
To get waste from the pit into the boilers, we rely on a piece of equipment called a grapple.
A crane operator uses the grapple to mix the waste and then feed the material into one of three boilers.
Each boiler can process 267 tons of trash per day and burns between 1,800- and 2,200- degrees Fahrenheit.
Turbine Generator
This location includes 3 hotspots. Click the arrow in the bottom left corner of the screen to go back to the previous location or click the button in the bottom right corner of the screen to go to the next location.
Here’s how it works:
• Water tubes surrounding each boiler generate steam from the combustion process.
• The steam is then piped to a turbine that is connected to a generator with a 23- megawatt capacity.
The pressurized steam turns the turbine blades, which the generator converts to renewable energy that powers our community.
In fact, through a Power Purchase Agreement with the Commonwealth’s Department of General Services, the majority of electricity produced is used to power State Capitol buildings.
Ash Building
This location includes 3 hotspots. Click the arrow in the bottom left corner of the screen to go back to the previous location or click the button in the bottom right corner of the screen to go to the next location.
What Happens to the Remaining Ash?
Through the waste-to-energy (WTE) process, the volume of waste is reduced by 90 percent! That means, for every 10 truckloads of waste that come into the facility, only 1 truckload of ash leaves. We also mine the ash for ferrous metals that are later recycled, while the remaining ash is used as daily cover at our Frey Farm Landfill landfill.Before this building, ash was staged at an open monofil located onsite. Having the ash under roof is a huge benefit from an environmental and operational perspective.
Here, ash is processed for ferrous metals (material that contain iron). Items such as golf clubs, baking pans and bicycle frames are pulled from the ash using a drum magnet and then recycled – which is another benefit of the WTE process.
The remaining ash is stored here until LCSWMA transports it to our Frey Farm Landfill where it is used for daily cover.
Back of Plant
This location includes 3 hotspots. Be sure to click on all of them. Click the arrow in the bottom left corner of the screen to go back to the previous location or click the button in the bottom right corner of the screen to go to the next location.
• Particulate matter is controlled through the baghouse.
• Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) is controlled by ammonia injection.
• Mercury and dioxin are controlled by activated carbon.
• Sulfur Dioxide and Hydrochloric Acid are controlled through lime slurry.
Read more about pollution control at WTE facilities here
The purpose of a cooling tower is to bring down the temperature of the water used in the waste-to-energy process, so it can be recirculated to make energy once again.
In addition to the cooling tower, the back end of the plant also houses the important pollution control system.
Combustion gases are thoroughly treated and cleaned before exiting the stack by passing through an extensive emissions control process.
Emissions at the facility are well below levels set by the PA-DEP.
End of Tour
You’ve completed the tour! Before you go, be sure to click on all 5 hotspots. Click the arrow in the bottom left corner of the screen to go back to the previous location. Thank you for joining us!