£100,000 extra to stop gas leak at leisure centre
LANDFILL METHANE HARDER TO FIX THAN THOUGHT
EXTRA money has been approved for work on a leisure centre closed because of leaking methane gas.
Blaby District Council shut Huncote leisure centre in November, when it expected work to address the issue of gas seeping up from a former landfill site to take five months.
However, the site remains closed for the foreseeable future.
The council set aside £500,000 shortly after the problem was detected.
It has now approved a further £100,000. The council said this “continues its commitment to ensure the landfill gases on the site are managed at safe levels”.
According to the council, levels remain high in low pressure weather conditions – when the air around the site rises.
Further work will see the installation of de-gassing equipment behind the centre and upgrades to monitoring equipment. To date, the work has cost the council £233,960. The remaining funds are expected to cover further mitigation work and monitoring for the next two years.
Council leader Terry Richardson said the problem has been a difficult one and there is “still a lot of work to do”.
He said: “Resolving landfill gas issues is not a cheap undertaking, and we have strengthened this fund with an extra £100,000 to ensure we are able to make sure this work is completed as quickly as possible.
“I want to commend the council’s officers and our contractors for their hard work in getting us to where we are today.
“Their efforts will ensure we are able to discharge our duties effectively and for the long term.”
The centre was built in the 1980s on land which had been used as a landfill until about 1973.
At the time the centre was built, landfill sites were thought to stop producing methane gas from decomposition in about a decade of their end of use.
The latest evidence suggests this process can take from 100 to 150 years.
The problem came to light when scheduled gas monitoring and upgrade work on the existing measuring and venting systems was carried out in a field behind the centre.
The council has a legal duty to ensure no gas leaves the site and it does not pose a potential risk to public health and safety.
Methane can be dangerous when trapped in confined spaces as oxygen is displaced, which can lead to mood changes, slurred speech, vision problems, memory loss, nausea, vomiting, facial flushing and headache and, in severe cases, there may be changes in breathing and heart rates, balance problems, numbness, and unconsciousness.
Methane is also highly flammable.