Northwestern Landfill

About the Program
The Northwestern Landfill is a landfill and waste management facility owned by WM in Parkersburg, West Virginia. This disposal facility is on the northwestern border of West Virginia and Ohio, a little over 100 miles south of Columbus, Ohio. Surrounded by rivers, this site sits east of the Ohio River and north of the Kanawha River. Not only serving as a landfill, this site also provides habitat for a variety of avian and pollinator species through the pollinator garden and multitude of avian nesting boxes. 

Practices and Impacts

• The 120-square-foot pollinator garden was started in 2016 with the hopes of attracting native pollinator species to the site. Due to disruptions caused by COVID, this garden was thus fully replanted in 2021. It is already showing signs of growth and will continue to be monitored in the coming years. 
• A one-acre wildflower meadow was planted in support of local pollinators. The site was seeded and has been subsequently mowed twice per year. Weeds are hand pulled. Initial seeding was not as successful as hoped, and there are plans to re-seed in 2024.
• With five wood duck boxes located near waterbodies throughout the site, there are many nesting opportunities for this native avian species. Both 2020 and 2021 proved successful with evidence of wood ducks nesting in the boxes in May of each year.