Landfill gas - a potential environmental hazard.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Public Safety

Background:

• Decomposition of organic matter in landfills generates methane.
• Methane gas migration poses significant fire and explosion hazards.
• Gas accumulation in buildings on landfill sites is a documented problem.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe methods for preventing lateral methane gas migration from landfills.
• To address the issue of gas accumulation in structures built on landfill sites.
• To provide safety guidelines for redevelopment on landfill grounds.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing techniques for controlling landfill gas migration.
• Analysis of methods to mitigate gas buildup in on-site buildings.
• Assessment of safety criteria for land use and redevelopment.

Main Results:

• Effective methods exist to prevent off-site lateral gas migration.
• Techniques are available to manage gas accumulation in buildings on some landfill sites.
• Certain landfill sites pose unacceptable safety risks for redevelopment.

Conclusions:

• Implementing gas migration control is crucial for landfill safety.
• Building on landfills requires specific engineering solutions for gas management.
• Safety considerations must preclude redevelopment on high-risk landfill sites.