The Butler Landfill, on Stratford Drive in Zilker Park, was a City landfill from 1948 to 1967. Its clay cap is the barrier between the buried waste and the park, and the lower part of the waste sits in the water of Lady Bird Lake. Every fall, C3 Presents stages trucks and equipment for the Austin City Limits Music Festival on top of it. The City's 2025 ACL agreement allows that through 2040.
The Butler Landfill cap lies along Stratford Drive between MoPac and Lou Neff Road. The grass area with Y-shaped drive aisles is near MoPac; the gravel staging lot is to the east. Google Maps satellite view, annotated by Diana Prechter.
The engineer warned that the cap is weaker when wet
In 2022 a plastic paver grid ("Grass Pave") was installed under the drive aisles in the grass area. Scott Smiley, PE, of MIDCON Engineering, who designed the work, wrote to me on February 15, 2024:
"The grass areas are top soil on top of the clay cap so when dry can carry loads from vehicles. However, all of these materials are subject to changes in moisture and will reduce their strength when wet."
The City's environmental staff warned about long-term use
On August 1, 2023, Liz Johnston, the City's Environmental Officer, wrote:
"continued parking on the gravel long term could, over time, cause issues with the cap, which could lead to contamination of Lady Bird Lake."
ACL 2026 load-in went ahead in the rain
PARD's own event policy says half an inch of rain "will likely make park grounds unusable for event purposes of any nature." On October 1, 2026, the last load-in day, 1.30 to 1.46 inches fell, about three times that level. The ACL agreement says continuing an event during rain without City approval "is defacing of City property." In response to my public information request, the two City departments that manage the agreement located no record of any City approval to continue.
The City confirmed the damage
On November 2, 2026, John Clement of Austin Watershed Protection wrote to me:
"my understanding is that this damage happened during load-in for ACL, that APR and C3 were both aware of it and steps were taken at the time to prevent further damage."
October 31, 2026, two weeks after tear-down: the grass area of the cap, with bare regraded strips beside the drive aisle.
October 31, 2026: sections of the paver grid, dug out and piled with lumber and mulch at the east end of the cap. On November 2, the day after I asked Watershed Protection to inspect it, the pile was hauled away.
November 5: the paver grid is being replaced
This morning, a Clean Scapes Landscaping crew was laying new paver grid over bare soil on the cap. Clean Scapes is the same company that installed the original grid in 2022.
November 5, 2026, 9:13 am: a crew lays new paver grid over bare, regraded soil, with MoPac behind.
New rolls of paver grid, still wrapped, brought to the site.
Old grid rings in compacted, bare soil, with no grass growing in them.
The contractor's truck on the Stratford lot.
Video: the repair in progress, November 5, 2026.
Youtube link: https://youtube.com/shorts/PQVYWo8n228?feature=share
What I have asked
On November 4, 2026, I submitted an allegation and audit request to the City Auditor on the ACL contract, the damage to Zilker Park, and park funds. Read the public copy of the audit request (PDF). Source documents are available on request.
I have filed a public information request (PIR #568) for the work order or contract, the cost, who paid for it, and any notice to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. TCEQ requires that development on a closed landfill be certified by an engineer to "not damage the integrity or function of a closed landfill." I have found no certification that covers ACL staging.
The question for the City is simple: if the cap is weaker when wet, and the City's own staff have warned about long-term use, should the City keep staging ACL on it every year through 2040? At minimum, the City should require an independent engineering evaluation of the cap every year, and no staging when it is wet.
Diana Prechter, November 5, 2026. Photos by Diana Prechter.
