A project under way at the Allen County landfill will improve disposal of natural gas generated by decomposition of organic matter embedded there, Bill King, director of Public Works, told county commissioners Tuesday. KING SAID the new 10-acre cell may be good for more than 10 years. KING TOLD commissioners he didn’t know how difficult it would be to salvage the so-called Hegwald bridge two miles west of Iola, planned for replacement within the next year or so.
Sixteen wells that draw methane from retired cells are being replaced, as is a connecting line whose flow is hampered by water collecting from condensation in a bend. A new flare to burn off gas will be installed. Contracted cost by SCS Field Services, Austin, Texas, is $373,893.
“It’s the second of three phases to expand and improve the landfill,” King told the Register.
Construction of a new 10-acre cell for trash disposal was completed three years ago for $2 million. The third phase, with no construction timeline yet established, will permit users to dump trash on the perimeter of the landfill and not have to drive into disposal areas.
“We may do the third phase in 2013,” King said.
Money for the work comes from tipping fees and proceeds from a half-cent sales tax.
The gas collection system upgrade was at the behest of the Environmental Protection Agency. Methane is collected from the 16 wells. Leachate — water contaminated by contact with trash — is separated to a tank and methane is burned off with a flare. The leachate eventually evaporates in a pond lined with plastic to protect ground water.
Until three years ago, some methane was used to fuel infrared heaters in a landfill equipment building.
“Lately, we haven’t been able to use the gas because of contamination,” King said, which the upgrade will eliminate.
Eula Hutton, landfill and quarry foreman, tests the wells periodically and noted about 120 cubic feet of gas comes from the 16 wells each minute. That’s 7,200 cubic feet an hour, more than enough to fuel the building heaters during cold weather.
“In three years we’ve used about a third of its surface and we can go higher on that third,” he said.
Allen County has maintained a landfill less than a mile southeast of LaHarpe for years, exchanging quarried ground on a 220-acre tract. About 80 acres has been exposed for the landfill.
Federal regulations joined state controls in 1995, which meant trash had to be covered daily, ground water had to be guarded and gas disposal was required.
The high-water mark for trash disposal was 1999, when 46,176.81 tons were taken in, from Allen and adjoining counties. Advantage for Allen Countians is they don’t have to pay to dispose of residential trash.
Disposal has fallen off the past few years, to 34,573.22 tons in 2011.
King said he was uncertain why, although Haldex’s closing reduced the stream, along with cutbacks at other industries in the area.
“It’s fairly short but probably would be a pretty good chore to move,” King said, so the bridge could be placed somewhere as a historical monument.
The bridge is a classic iron arch bridge, many of which were built in Allen and other Kansas counties a century ago.
A fear, King added, is the bridge might have to be closed before construction to replace it because of deficiencies.
“If you remember, we had to close the Seven-Arch Bridge a while before it was replaced,” he noted.
That bridge, over Slacker’s Branch about three miles east of Humboldt, was laid up by artisans in about 1900 without use of mortar. Cut stones were positioned so that pressure from above held all in place. Each arch was topped by a “key” stone, which if removed would have caused the arch to collapse.
Landfill getting upgrades
