Gas collection system to be installed at upstate New York landfill

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reached a settlement with Allied Waste Niagara Falls Landfill LLC that will see the landfill owner pay a $671,000 penalty and operate a gas collection and control system to reduce the amount of harmful chemicals, primarily methane, as well as other harmful organic compounds, released into the air.

The upstate New York landfill is now operated by Phoenix-based Republic Services as the Republic Services Pine Avenue Landfill. It is located near residential and commercial retail neighborhoods along Military Road and Niagara Falls Boulevard in Niagara Falls.

The consent decree will result in the estimated elimination of 86,000 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent methane emissions, according to the EPA.

The agency also says the gas collection and control system that Republic Services will operate and operational changes it will implement will prevent 32 metric tons of non-methane landfill gas emissions per year.

According to the EPA, methane accounts for 12 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, and landfills are the third largest source of methane in the U.S.

The EPA says it is tackling these sources as part of its National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative dedicated to mitigating climate change.

The settlement also includes capping the vents on parts of the landfill that have been inactive, monitoring the emissions and the gas wells, applying for updated state permits including a Title V major source permit, and keeping records of its compliance activities.

The settlement resolves Clean Air Act claims alleged in a complaint filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of EPA claiming the landfill owner failed to timely install and operate a gas collection and control system on the active and inactive cells of the landfill, which caused excess landfill gas emissions to be released to the atmosphere.

“Thanks to EPA’s action, the company must operate controls to dramatically slash the climate damaging pollutants that they are putting into our air every day,” EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia says. “These pollutants also have health impacts, so cutting these pollutants not only protects the climate, it also safeguards the health of the people living near this landfill.”

According to the EPA, the proposed consent decree, which can be accessed here, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.