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Did You Know
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A series of reports (see below) from California state government and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection takes a fresh look at a problem that has been ignored for years: toxic gases released from landfills. Solid waste landfills and hazardous waste landfills both emit toxic gases into the surrounding air. US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) published its opinion back in 1982 that air pollution from landfills is a significant problem but said it would have to ignore the problem because no one knew how to get a handle on it. So far as we know, EPA has never said another word on the subject. University researchers reported almost a decade ago that landfills emit airborne toxins into the local environment, but until now no one has defined the extent of the problem. |
Recently, Allied Waste was asked the following question at one of the public hearings: What incidences, if any, have been documented that show an increase in illnesses of any kind associated with successful landfills? Their answer: Allied is not aware of any properly controlled study exclusively featuring the health affects of modern lined landfills that are compliant with Subtitle D and other current regulations on nearby residents. The remainder of this article will outline several controlled studies and their findings. We suggest that Allied was aware of these studies and their findings. |
Another question: Opponents claim that cancer and other environmentally-related illnesses have increased in and around landfills. What is the veracity of these claims? Their answer: Most of these claims, whether substantiated or not, involve illegal hazardous waste dumps and/or Superfund sites, not Subtitle D facilities. Below are the results of three major controlled studies involving landfill gas and it's toxicity. These studies were the result of years of research by dedicated corporations. |
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Dealing with landfill gases sometimes involves the
burning or "flaring" of the gas on site. But this
may actually be more hazardous to the surrounding
environment.Most of the gas produced in landfills escapes to the atmosphere even at sites that install gas collection systems. Almost half of the first wave of gas generation occurs before collection systems are installed. And more than half of the total gas generated by landfills will occur in a second wave of gas generation decades in the future, long after the gas collection systems have been removed from service. Moreover, EPA rules mandating the installation of gas collection systems only cover 54% of the waste in the ground. Add up the numbers (50% x 54% x <50%) and a claim that much more than 10% of all the landfill gas actually gets captured is difficult to sustain.
Even more gas escapes at sites that optimize
collection for electricity generation. If a
landfill operator is offered a financial incentive
to manage his site for power, he will shift the way
he manages the site to pull more gas from the dense
core at the expense of the periphery, or to use
'wet' (bioreactor) instead of 'dry' cells, either
of which will significantly increase the proportion
of gases emitted to the atmosphere. Landfills' true contribution to global warming
is likely to be far greater than the 4% of US
manmade greenhouse gases estimated by EPA when
assuming, without any technical support, a 75%
landfill gas capture efficiency. Astonishing though
it sounds, landfills may actually contribute
something closer to 20% of America's climate change
gases when field data is finally gathered.
Landfill gases are not limited to methane. They also include known carcinogenic and lethal nerve gases that may lie behind health impacts that have been observed among people living in proximity to landfills.
It's time to stop allowing Allied Waste and your elected officials to package and sell invisible death to our community! One of their strongest selling points was the illusion that landfill gas is an economically viable use for the deadly byproduct of their landfills. This, along with all the other lies that Allied has sold to us is documented and now made public knowledge.
Study #1 California Air Resources Board Study
Under California state law all solid and hazardous waste landfills must be tested for toxic gas emissions. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) selected 10 toxic gases for measurement; they selected these particular gases because they are known to have ill effects (particularly cancer) on humans who are exposed for extended periods. The ten toxic gases they tested for are: vinyl chloride, benzene, ethylene dibromide, ethylene dichloride, methylene chloride, perchloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane (methyl chloroform), trichloroethylene, and chloroform. In addition, landfill gas samples were also analyzed for oxygen, nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide.
The CARB summarized their findings this way:
1) One or more of the 10 toxic chemicals could be measured in gases emitted from 240 out of 356 landfills tested; in other words, 67% of the tested landfills emitted one or more of the toxic gases.
2) Hazardous waste landfills and municipal solid waste landfills appeared to be similar in their ability to produce toxic gases.
3) In many cases, but not all, toxic gases escaping from landfills could be measured at the property line, the legal boundary of the landfill.
4) Methane at concentrations greater than the regulatory limit of 5% was found to be migrating offsite underground at approximately 20% of the landfills. Methane is a naturally-occurring gas created by the decay of organic matter inside a landfill. As methane is formed, it builds up pressure and then begins to move through the soil, following the path of least resistance; often it moves sideways for a time before breaking through to the surface of the ground. Methane is lighter than air and is flammable. If it enters a closed building and the concentration builds up to about 15% in the air, a spark or a flame is likely to cause a serious explosion. For this reason, landfill designers sometimes install a set of pipes full of holes like a Swiss cheese to provide a known pathway for the methane to escape through; such systems are sometimes successful and sometimes not.
The new California study does not go into great detail, but it certainly provides evidence that toxic gases are likely to be measurable in the air near landfills. For example, of 340 California landfills studied, more than half had measurable airborne releases of benzene (average: 2.5 parts per million [ppm]), methylene chloride (average: 4.8 ppm), perchloroethylene (average: 1.1 ppm), 1,1,1-trichloroethane (average 650 parts per billion (ppb), and trichloroethylene (average: 840 ppb). Nearly half had releases of vinyl chloride (average: 2.2 ppm). Methane was found at three quarters of all landfills tested. At half of these, the concentration was 10% or less. In the other half, the concentration varied from 11% to 73%. These were measurements at the ground surface of the cap of the landfill.
Another set of measurements was taken at the property boundary of each of 288 landfills, to see if toxic gases could be detected in the "ambient" outdoor air. At 57% of these landfills, 1,1,1-trichloroethane was detected (maximum: 51 ppb); at 49%, perchloroethylene was detected (maximum: 269 ppb); at 45%, methylene chloride (maximum: 1.3 ppm); at 40%, benzene (maximum: 500 ppb); at 32%, trichloroethylene (maximum: 130 ppb); at 22%, carbon tetrachloride (maximum: 15 ppb); at 13%, chloroform (maximum: 32 ppb).
In all, off-site migration of gases, including methane, was detected at 83% of all the 288 landfills. It's enough to make you think twice before buying a home near a landfill, or before you sit by silently while someone else builds a new landfill near your home, farm, church, or school.
Actually, this is not the first time landfill gas emissions have been reported--it's just the first time anyone has looked at several hundred landfills to see how they behave in general.
Study #2 The Princeton Study
A Princeton University study of the Monument Street Landfill in Baltimore reported in 1983 that toxic gases were escaping through the methane venting system, which had been installed to prevent methane from escaping through the cracks in Baltimore streets. Toxic gases were escaping right along with the methane (which had a concentration of 7%), in the following peak concentrations: 1,1-dichloroethane (3.9 ppm); 1,1,1-trichloroethane (1.1 ppm); trichloroethylene (4.9 ppm); ethyl benzene (10.4 ppm). In that study, a Gaussian air pollution dispersion model was used to gauge the human exposure, which was estimated to be 7 micrograms of ethyl benzene per cubic meter of air 100 yards downwind from the landfill property line, and 0.14 micrograms of ethyl benzene per cubic meter of air 1000 yards downwind from the property line (assuming stable atmospheric conditions). These are not trivial exposures-especially near a landfill surrounded by a residential community. Proposals to "flare" the methane (set it on fire and allow it to burn continuously) were considered but were rejected until such time as a proper study could be done to learn what additional toxic byproducts would be created by the flame. Such a study was never done.
Study #3 The New Jersey DEP
Another study conducted in 1983 by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) at Waste Management's Parklands Landfill in Bordentown, NJ, in which the DEP measured toxic gases inside a high school near the landfill. The study described methods and apparatus suitable for measuring toxic air emissions from landfills, so that any unit of government that became interested in the problem could take its own measurements. The system does require access to a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS). Except for that critical (and expensive) piece of equipment, This system of measurement is relatively inexpensive..
It's not possible that anyone that was sent by Allied to one of the public hearings could not be aware of the results of any of these studies. At least two of them were conducted by federal or state entities. In effect, Allied lied!
But don't take our word for it, read for yourself what else Allied has in store for us:
Allied Waste Misses Deadline To Clean Gas-Tainted Soil
See Images Of Methane Collection Facilities
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Story and Data Provided By: EJNET.ORG