Landfull

By Charles Sowell  

OCTOBER 14, 2010 10:38 a.m. (0)

Data from the U.S. Environmental Protection agency appear to contradict claims by Waste Management that the Palmetto Landfill’s ability to produce methane gas for use by BMW is poised to decline.

A possible decline is a reason Waste Management might give for seeking to expand the landfill. The company won’t decide whether to seek permission to expand before Jan. 1, an official with Waste Management, owners of the private dump, told the Journal last week.

The nation’s largest commercial trash disposal company approached BMW recently with the idea of expanding the landfill with an eye toward extending the dump’s capacity to produce methane.

However, EPA has published estimates on methane gas production as part of its green energy program and those figures show that “One million tons of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) produces roughly 432,000 cubic feet per day of LFG (landfill gas which is roughly 50 percent methane and 50 percent carbon dioxide) and continues to produce LFG for as many as 20 to 30 years after being landfilled.”

One expert with ties to Waste Management, Morton A. Barlaz, head of the department of civil, construction and environmental engineering at North Carolina State, said, “Landfills typically meet their peak methane production when the last ton goes in and the rates drop after that so the statement that gas production is expected to decline is correct.  Methane production quantities depend on total tons in place.

“Please also note that I work with Waste Management extensively on a variety of issues.  Nonetheless, their statements on gas are generally accepted as correct.”

BMW has been piping methane from Palmetto since 2003. The landfill has been in operation since the late 1970s.

Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt promised a cold reception should Waste Management approach the county with a plan for expanding the landfill.

“That just doesn’t fit in with our long-range plans for the Westside,” Britt said. “We see that area as having great potential for residential, commercial and industrial development and an operating landfill just doesn’t cut it.”

BMW gets about 60 percent of its electricity through powerful methane-fired generators and reports a savings of about $1 million a year while significantly reducing its carbon footprint, company officials have said.

Company spokesman Robert Hitt did not answer the Journal’s request for an interview on Palmetto.

The news about potentially expanding the landfill sparked a flurry of activity in the environmental community, long-time opponents of the controversial landfill. Palmetto draws the vast majority of its garbage from outside Spartanburg County and outside the state.

“We have enough capacity at our county facility to handle all our needs for decades to come,” said Glenn Breed, county administrator.

The state’s growing reputation for taking garbage from outside its borders was one of the driving forces behind amending the Solid Waste Management Act in 2000. The act sets specific criteria for owning and operating new landfills and includes a grandfather clause enabling businesses with an existing landfill to open a new one without showing need.

However, the company must find a host county willing to take a new landfill. So far Waste Management has been unable to persuade any county in the area to take another landfill. Should they be able to find a county, so long as Palmetto operates, they would come under the grandfather clause.

Gary Poliakoff, an attorney representing homeowners adjoining Palmetto, said he had been told by company officials that the plan had been given a green light.  “My clients strongly oppose any plans to expand the life of the landfill. Fact of the matter is it should have been closed about two years ago after reaching capacity.

“Waste Management has cut back drastically on the amount of garbage they dump there in order to take advantage of the grandfather clause in the state’s Solid Waste Management Act,” he said.

However, Randall Essick the senior business development manager for Waste Management denied telling Poliakoff that the plan is active and said and expansion of the facility would be purely to insure a continued flow of methane to BMW.

“We don’t expect a decision of whether or not to approach regulators and local officials until sometime around Jan.1,” he said.

He also denied nascent plans for expanding the landfill have anything to do with opening another site under the grandfather clause. “Our engineers tell us we’ll reach peak capacity at Palmetto in 2011 and thereafter the landfill’s ability to produce methane will decline.

“This is all about being able to provide BMW with a steady stream of methane in the future.”