The Lycoming Landfill

Transcription

1 The Lycoming Landfill The Lycoming Landfill story focuses on the history, double-lined lagoon system, landfill gas production, and accessibility components of the landfill. Opened in 1973, the Lycoming Landfill has been home to the surrounding counties in the Susquehanna Valley region. The Lycoming Landfill is a storage place in the local area for trash, construction waste, farm materials and other unwanted resources. The Lycoming County Resource Management Service, a division of the Lycoming County Government, currently operates the landfill. The landfill continues to accept municipal waste today. The landfill has many advantages including energy production from the methane gas produced by decaying municipal waste and a doublelined lagoon system to prevent leachate from entering the groundwater. The landfill is an important part of our community because it properly disposes our waste, which helps protect the environment. Background The Lycoming Landfill is located on the Federal Bureau of Prisons land on the Lycoming County and Union County borderlines. It is located 9 miles south of the city of Williamsport, 14 miles north of Lewisburg and 25 miles north of Sunbury. It receives the majority of trash from Montour, Lycoming, Northumberland, Snyder, Columbia and Union Counties. The government has been developing the landfill site since 1973 and has acres of permitted land. When the landfill opened in 1978, the site received 16,689 tons of Municipal solid waste in its first year. The landfill today receives 1,100 tons/day. The permitted daily average is 1,600 tons/day with a maximum amount at 2,000 tons/day. 57 of the 88 acres permitted for waste disposal is either being filled or in the process of being filled. maps.googlecom There are 22 monitoring wells throughout the landfill. They cover points around the landfill including water wells, under drains, leachate lagoons and detection zones. The data is collected and sent to the Department of Environmental Protection every three months. Other wells outside of the landfill are tested for groundwater contamination upon request.

2 Where does your trash go? When an item is thrown into a trashcan it will eventually be moved to the dumpster for the waste management service to pick it up. The trash is then transported from your house to the Lycoming Landfill. The trash is dumped into the landfill and then covered with dirt and rocks. Over the course of a couple of years, the trash decomposes and becomes solid waste, leachate or gas. The leachate makes its way to the bottom and is collected by the landfill then pumped to the Montgomery Water Treatment Plant. The municipal waste can also give off gases, which are captured by the landfill s Co-Generation plant and produced into energy for the landfill and the surrounding community. The solid waste left behind in the landfill will be stored there permanently. In the Susquehanna Valley, there are many transfer stations, curbside collection programs and drop-off sites for residential waste, tires, recyclables, drywall, construction, and renovation materials, scrap metal, and curbside trash. One of the main transfer stations for Northumberland county use is Bewdley Transfer Station. This is a useful resource in a community because it can lower collection costs and reduce the costs of hauling the waste to the landfill site. Double-lined Lagoon System The landfill is underlined with a double-lined lagoon. This system traps any leakage from the municipal waste into the lagoon. Any of the leachate fluid captured in the lagoon is transported to the Montgomery Sewage Treatment Plant. It is a requirement for all landfills to have a lagoon system because of the potential hazard for groundwater contamination. The release of leachate in the environment could seriously impact maps.google the areas drinking water and possibly take years to clean up. It is a process that the state government does not want to deal with. There are many regulations found on the Environmental Protection Agency website that are in place to prevent these kinds of environmental hazards. Most of the lagoon systems are very reliable and are inspected by the state government. Operators at the Lycoming Landfill are required to inspect the area, maintain and monitor the leak detection system, monitor groundwater, prevent storm runoff and protect the environment. Accessibility

3 The landfill is easily accessible to the greater Susquehanna Valley region because it is located between the City of Williamsport and Sunbury. Both of those areas produce the most municipal waste in the Susquehanna Valley. The location of the Lycoming landfill is on a state road that is used as a main route for transportation in central Pennsylvania. The road is called Route 15, which happens to be the road the Lycoming Landfill is located on. Landfill Gas The Lycoming Landfill is very useful in its community because of the multiple gases that it gives off for energy production. The Lycoming landfill started flaring gas in Landfills are known for giving off a strong odor but the flaring of the gas reduces this problem. This process helps by limiting the smell of the landfill from the surrounding communities. The main resource that the landfill produces is the landfill gas that is captured to make energy. The landfill produces gas as the garbage decomposes underneath the material on top of the waste, which mostly contains dirt and rocks. This mixture of gas consists of 50% methane and 50% CO2, with some traces of other impurities. This is considered a very useful resource that many landfills take advantage of. In fact, it helps with the landfills energy costs and provides local energy to the community around the landfill. Currently, the landfill gives off approximately 2800 CFM (cubic feet per minute) of gas. A co-generation plant converts about 25% of the landfill gas to electricity, which is sold to PPL. The electricity being produced lyco.org today can power up to 1000 homes in the area. This process will continue even after the landfill is closed. It is estimated that the landfill will produce enough energy to supply the surrounding area for the next twenty to thirty years. By Bob Donato

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7 Lesson Plans/ Resource Materials Community projects group - environmental education This search engine provides lesson plans for teachers that have been reviewed by other teachers This website provides discussions for the students during classroom time including what garbage do you produce, how to reduce your waste, and think of designs for recycling programs Educational Resources About the Susquehanna Valleys by Mark Temple and Van Wagner Students can calculate their own carbon footprint

8 RESOURCES "Landfill Info & Transfer Stations." Northumberland County. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr < transfer_stations.asp>. "Land Disposal Units Treatment, Storage & Disposal Facilities Wastes US EPA." US Environmental Protection Agency. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May < "Lycoming County." lyco.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr < McKibben, Craig. Williamsport Sun Gazette. SunGazette, Accessed April 26,