Ohio EPA concerned about methane at closed landfill

Ohio EPA concerned about methane at closed landfill

Sept. 28

High levels of methane from a closed landfill in St. Bernard, Ohio, have Ohio Environmental Protection Agency concerned.

The city-owned site in Hamilton County stopped receiving waste in the 1970s, and St. Bernard and the Ohio EPA have reached an agreement about how the city will investigate and correct problems.

"Ohio EPA is concerned that methane is moving underground from the landfill and may collect in low areas or people´s homes at levels capable of igniting or exploding," according to the state agency.

Some homes are within 200 feet of where waste was buried and 234 occupied structures are within 1,000 feet, the state said.

The city has agreed to determine where the methane has migrated and propose remediation or abatement to minimize explosive gas levels. The city also has to convert the current gas extraction system to a continuously operating automated system.

Ohio EPA ordered St. Bernard in 2003 to abate or minimize the formation or migration of explosive gas from the landfill. Methane levels initially dropped, but they have returned to what the state calls "unacceptably high levels."

Contact Waste & Recycling News senior reporter Jim Johnson at 937-964-1289 or jpjohnson@crain.com

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