interestingasfuck

I did a scholastic paper on trash a long time ago. I might not recall everything clearly, but NY had a trash problem and at the time (1990's), they sent barges (and trucks) of garbage to other locations and many ended up being refused as it included heavy ash from incineration. Some barges came back empty anyways; presumably dumped at sea.

My research also told me Fresh Kills was the second highest point of land on the east coast of the US. From Wikipedia:

"At its peak of operation in 1986–87, Fresh Kills received as much as 29,000 short tons (26,000 t) of trash per day.[6] It was estimated that, if kept open, the landfill would have eventually reached a height of 500 feet (150 m) or more. At this height, it would have been taller than Todt Hill making it the highest point on the East Coast south of Mount Desert Island in Maine."

Also this gross part:

"From 1987 through 1988, in an environmental disaster known as the syringe tide, significant amounts of medical waste from the Fresh Kills landfill, including hypodermic syringes and raw garbage, washed up onto beaches on the Jersey Shore, in New York City, and on Long Island. This event forced the closing of beaches on the Atlantic coast."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresh_Kills_Landfill