Kane County monitoring methane gas seepage
Kane County officials said Tuesday they’re not certain what’s causing the elevated levels of methane gas just south of Midway landfill facility adjacent to Settlers Hill. But, so far, none of the gas has traveled far enough or in high enough concentrations to be of any danger to residents or their property.
The nearest residents to the areas being studied for the gas live in Batavia’s Highlands subdivision. Waste Management has sole responsibility for both Midway and Settlers Hill in terms of monitoring and remediating any methane gas issues at the former landfills.
So far, officials said, they believe all the gas is coming from the Midway landfill, but no one has ruled out the possibility that methane is traveling underground from the Settlers Hill facility. Waste Management harnesses methane gas emissions from Settlers Hill, which the city of Geneva uses to generate some of its electricity. Midway is an older facility, but Waste Management Spokesman Bill Plunkett said it also has a system that feeds into the larger energy-creation process. Some county board members were unaware Tuesday that Midway also collected methane.
“For environmental reasons we have to control the landfill gas,” Plunkett said. “Methane is about 50 percent of that. Basically, we use a system that vacuums the gas off the hill to a landfill gas-to-energy site. There it’s cleaned and used for fuel. Turbines run the energy collection system.”
Asked Tuesday what caused the methane to begin to appear beyond the normal footprint for the emissions, Kane County Board member Mike Donahue said he is not sure why, but he believes Midway may have some infrastructure issues that Settlers Hill doesn’t share.
“It’s not a modern regional solid waste facility,” Donahue said. “It closed in 1981. And when that facility was built, it was not developed in accordance with what we’d consider modern-day technology with regard to solid waste disposal. It’s basically an old dump.”
Officials first discovered the methane gas Dec. 1 during routine monitoring. Since then, more gas probes have been put in place to monitor how the gas is traveling, if at all. So far, the gas has only been detected at levels of about 25 to 30 feet below ground. That’s deep enough that nearby residents shouldn’t have to worry about any methane seeping into their homes through basements or sump pits, officials said.
“It’s apparently diffusing into the atmosphere, which is perfectly normal or acceptable,” Donahue said. “It’s not under pressure, which means that it is able to move and be released into the atmosphere without posing any danger. There’s decomposing material under the ground that already does that naturally.”
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is streamlining Waste Management’s plans to mitigate the gas. Those plans include a vacuum system that captures some of the methane similar to what already occurs at Settlers Hill. But even with an expedited process, construction of the apparatus to fully handle the gas may take up to three months, officials said. Monitoring will continue until then.
“Our very first questions were about any risk to the public,” Donahue said. “After three weeks of monitoring, the answer as of today continues to be no. I believe we’re on top of the situation. And there is a very strong indemnification that places Waste Management solely responsible. They are paying for all the costs associated with this.”
Plunkett said Waste Management has a full team working hard to solve the problem.
“The Midway landfill staff is working in tandem with the city of Batavia and Kane County officials to address and resolve this situation as soon as possible,” Plunkett said.
Gas probes are being tested twice a day to monitor the situation. Batavia has established a Web page where local residents can find updates on major developments at cityofbatavia.net/midway.