Methane gas sparks fears in Woolwich
Leaking landfill poses no threat, township tells nearby residents
ELMIRA — This community is grappling with a new environmental problem: a public landfill that closed in 1970 and is leaking methane gas as waste decomposes.
Woolwich Township has assured nearby residents on High and George streets that methane is not moving their way and they face no threat.
The township has offered to monitor indoor air if they have concerns.
But the township does worry about an explosion if gas builds up inside 86 Auto and Metal Recyclers, a business that owns the former landfill and operates above it at 39 Arthur St. N.
Methane has been detected at elevated levels in soil near the building.
“The concern is that as it comes up out of the soil, it could concentrate in the basement of that building and if becomes concentrated enough … it could reach levels where there would be a potential for explosion,” said Dan Kennaley, township engineering director.
86 Auto owner Frank Rattasid worries about safety and his investment in the property. Citing the issue of compensation, he has yet to endorse a township proposal to solve the problem by building a trench to vent the gas.
“It’s laughably stupid how badly this was mismanaged over the last 40 years,” he said, after reading past reports.
He remembers watching a consultant test for methane after the township removed a gas control system it operated on the property. “The guy’s face went white,” he said.
Kennaley said: “I’m not concerned about the history of the monitoring activity on the site so much. I’m more concerned about what are the circumstances that confront us today, and are we properly handling the situation today? I can without reservation say that we are.”
Woolwich operated the former Bolender landfill between 1962 and 1970 near Arthur Street North. There’s uncertainty about the extent of the issue.
The township knows only an approximate boundary. The township says it has no records of chemical waste, but it knows the landfill buried “some industrial waste such as paper and filter cloths.” The township installed a system to control landfill gas in 1984, but abandoned it in 2015 after it stopped working and was deemed unnecessary.
Citing his reading of past reports, activist Alan Marshall contends the former landfill “poses a huge danger.”
A former citizen adviser but not a scientist, Marshall has long battled the township on environmental and political issues.
“It’s ridiculous, the lack of concern and the lack of care and the lack of monitoring for methane gas,” Marshall said. He has dropped leaflets at nearby homes to make residents aware of his concerns and he has repeatedly appeared before Woolwich council.
Woolwich Mayor Sandy Shantz said residences near the site face no threat.
“We continue to work with the current owner of the landfill site on issues related specifically to that property,” she said.
“We are confident that the adjacent properties are safe.”
Elmira is no stranger to environmental stress. Residents drink water that’s piped in after decades of chemical production poisoned the town’s groundwater.