ROBERT A. EVANGELISTA
RECOVERY OF METHANE FROM A SOLID WASTE LANDFILL
Fugitive landfill gas, containing methane, from the 321 Landfill in Lexington County entered adjacent residential homes and industrial buildings and accumulated to explosive levels. The objective of this project was to eliminate the threat of explosion from methane as quickly and effectively as possible and to recover methane. This took the form of technical support for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who had direct oversight of the County and the County’s contractor.
First and importantly, historical data from several sources were acquired and analyzed to provide a better understanding of a complex situation and identify data gaps. Next an evaluation of landfill gas transport mechanisms---diffusion, effusion, and convection---as they specifically applied to the 321 landfill structure, site geology and hydrogeology. This was followed by a site visit to compare the landfill structure, gas extraction and monitoring wells, and topography to the data record and to better understand the situation and devise a recovery solution.
Due to the oversight role of EPA in this project, I commented on the proposed methane recovery design of the County’s contractor. I then countered with an alternative design that proposed several different subterranean gas migration barriers and proposed gas monitoring and extraction wells surrounding this barrier.
More Information
For additional information, see the following in the Publications and Reports section or contact EPA Region 4.
R. Evangelista, Comments to the Response to Comments, Draft Methane Recovery Design Plans, 321 Landfill, Lexington County, SC. Prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000. PDF 568 KB
R. Evangelista, Evaluation of the Draft Methane Recovery Plan and the Revised Final Extraction Test Report. Prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000. PDF 656 KB
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