ALBANY — The state Department of Environmental Conservation is considering a policy change that would make methane gas collection systems mandatory at the state's 27 solid waste landfills.
One north country landfill expert thinks that's a bad idea. Robert S. Juravich is executive director of the Development Authority of the North Country, which operates a solid waste landfill in the town of Rodman.
EXPERT OPPOSES IDEA
"We think the benefit of mandating is really arguable," Mr. Juravich said. "Voluntary compliance is working well."
If enacted as drafted, a new DEC permitting policy would effectively end the distribution of methane destruction carbon credits that currently go to landfills voluntarily installing systems to capture methane. Landfills sell these credits; in DANC's case, credit sales bring in about $1 million annually.
The DANC landfill charges a tipping fee of $41 per ton. Mr. Juravich said this fee is unlikely to change during the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2009. He did, however, say the fee "could be revisited in light of rising costs and potential revenue loss."
CREDITS COULD BE CASUALTY
Without funds from selling their unused credits, landfills may not be as aggressive in pursuing and developing alternative forms of energy, Mr. Juravich said. But the policy change that all "new, renewed, modified or amended permits should specify state-of-the-art gas collection systems for any new cell and/or disposal area and should require that landfill gas be collected and used for energy recovery," would eliminate credits for systems installed voluntarily.
Mr. Juravich argues the credits create a "powerful incentive" that pushes landfills to install gas collection systems on their own because of the revenue they can generate. He said that "virtually all" of the state's landfills that are not required to have such systems have either already installed them, or are in the process of doing so.
In order to receive methane destruction carbon credits, a landfill must capture and burn methane released by waste decomposing underground. If a landfill produces enough methane, it can be used to generate electricity, which the Rodman facility plans to begin doing next month, Mr. Juravich said. Initial estimates put the annual proceeds from the sale of electricity at another $1 million.
In an Aug. 13 letter to DEC, Mr. Juravich suggested that landfills without gas collection systems be handled with "special permit conditions" when their operating permits come up for renewal.
"By mandating systems and eliminating carbon credit revenue in the process, the financial inducement to fully develop systems will be lost," he wrote. "Further, in cases where large gas volumes are not available, the very feasibility of developing gas-to-energy facilities may become marginal."
"When you compare the benefit versus the cost, there appears to be a very weak argument for mandating these systems," Mr. Juravich said.
In a summary statement attached to the proposal, DEC says the policy change would "maximize" its ability "to facilitate comprehensive solid waste management planning and ensure best practices in solid waste management facility operations.
"It aims to increase materials recovery, reduce the environmental impact of waste management, reduce greenhouse gas generation, extend the useful life of the state's landfill capacity resources and minimize landfill encroachment on the state's natural resources," according to the DEC statement. "It is critical to scrutinize solid waste management facility permit decisions to ensure that the decisions the department makes today support the state's policy objectives for the long-term."
"We're in the process of reviewing the comments," said Maureen Wren, DEC spokeswoman. She noted that the comment period, which closed in late August, had been extended from 30 days to 90 days. There is no timeframe for issuing the final policy.
The landfill in Rodman, in operation since 1992, accepts construction and demolition debris, friable and nonfriable asbestos, non-petroleum contaminated soil, industrial and paper mill sludge, asbestos, bio-solids, and residential/institutional and commercial mixed solid waste. It operates under a 10-year permit that expires in 2012.
