For his project Revival Field, begun in 1990, the artist Mel Chin (b. 1951) planted a section of a St. Paul, Minnesota, landfill with hyperabsorbents--vegetation that extracts toxins from contaminated soil. The site, designed in an arrangement of concentric circles, was created with a leading agronomist and also serves as an outdoor laboratory for scientific study. Mierle Laderman-Ukeles (b. 1939) has worked for years as the artist in residence at the New York City Sanitation Department. She designed Flow City, one of its waste-transfer facilities, as a public museum of waste and redemption.
Nancy Holt transformed the problem of waste, one of the most pressing concerns of urban ecology, into a fertile ground for art. Sky Mound (1984), a 57 acre landfill in New Jersey's Meadowlands, was closed using the latest technology. Decomposing garbage is contained by an invisible slurry wall. Recycled plastic liners made from old soda bottles cover the landfill and are topped with eighteen inches of soil. Methane gas, formed from decomposing organic garbage, is collected in a recovery system and used as an alternative energy source.
The Sky Mound project was to be built in two stages. The first stage, from 1984 to 1991, included sealing the landfill and cost nearly 11 million dollars, paid by the state of New Jersey. Stage two include nonfunctional sculptural sections. Large metal posts were to form a solar observation area in the center of the park to mark the Summer and Winter Solstice. Holt redesigned the 100 foot area as a park for people and wildlife to enjoy. The project was to be funded by NEA, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and a New Jersey state environmental bond. However, funding was stopped in 1991 to conduct a technological study at the site and currently construction remains postponed.