State finds no sign of methane gas migrating from closed dump
State efforts to alleviate a buildup of explosive gases on the grounds of a former landfill in Clinton Township apparently are working.
Township officials recently said a series of eight vents in and around Prince Drewry Park, located in the area of Quinn Road and Gratiot Avenue, have allowed methane gas to be safely released into the atmosphere.
The 15-foot-high vents were paid for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). Detection equipment shows there is no migration of the odorless gas, according to a news release from Clinton Township.
Greg Barrows, a senior geologist with EGLE, recently briefed township officials on the state efforts.
He said a recent sampling of the site has shown no refuse or contaminants associated the landfill at the surface. He said the vents are functioning and the data demonstrates the methane levels remain steady.
No alarms have been activated from gas at the former landfill, he said.
“What we’re hoping to see is methane coming out at the monitoring points (the vents) in the landfill and not at the monitoring points surrounding the landfill, and that’s indeed what we see,” he said.
Prince Drewry Park is located on the site of a former landfill on Quinn Road. Vents were also placed at the nearby Robbie Hall Parker Elementary School and along Kentucky Street.
The landfill was operated by the Grosse PointesClinton
Refuse Disposal Authority on a 65-acre parcel on Quinn Road. The municipal consortium handled household trash from Clinton Township, the five Grosse Pointe communities, and Harper Woods. The garbage burner closed in 1999.
The closed garbage dump is generating methane gas, which is common in landfills, and forms from rotting trash. It can drift onto neighboring buildings and if certain conditions develop, the gas can ignite and possibly explode.
EGLE environmental quality analysts last year detected leaking methane gas through routine testing of the air in and around the park. The tests show there is no migration of the gas to nearby properties.
Barrows said the ground beneath the park is made up on sand and gravel, and surrounded by natural clay. That helps contain the gas and allows it to escape upward as opposed to having it migrate laterally into confined spaces, where it could build up and eventually explode
“The main hazard being posed by the site, based on the geology, based on its proximity to homes, based on the cap, is the fire and explosive hazard posed by the methane gas itself, so we really wanted to make sure that was not a problem migrating away from the site,” he said.
EGLE will continue to monitor the vents on a weekly basis at least through the end of the year. He said other communities facing similar issues have worked to disguise, paint, or decorated the vent pipes to make them more appealing and less noticeable. Residents living near the park last August were given natural gas detectors for their homes as a safeguard against the methane gas. Clinton Township Supervisor Bob Cannon said he was “very impressed” with EGLE’s response to the gas migration concerns.
“As soon as the methane levels began to rise, (EGLE officials) were on the spot,” he said.