The state has paid the city $32,913 — a down payment to reimburse it for emissions work at an outdated city landfill in 2008.

The city and 11 other municipalities have waited years for the state to pay for mandated environmental costs. Patricia Aho, state Department of Environmental Protection commissioner, announced the first payment of many more for Bath on Friday.

The state will ultimately reimburse Bath 75 percent — about $800,000 — of a $1.3 million project to disperse landfill gases in 2008.

North end residents had complained of gas odors coming from the landfill off High Street for years. The gas — generated by bacterial action as trash is broken down — was about half methane, half carbon dioxide; the smell likely came from hydrogen sulfide, which was found in trace amounts.

In 2008, Bath developed a series of collection wells and pipes that pulled gases out of the landfill and moved them to a flare. The methane provides the fuel for the flame, and the carbon and trace gases are destroyed without causing odors. The system burns about 275 cubic feet of gas per minute at about 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit.

The total cost of the well and flare system was $1.3 million.

Reimbursements to the city are being funded by a new $2- per-ton fee on construction and demolition debris. The fee went into effect in January, and is expected to generate $400,000 this year alone.

In part because Bath and other landfills are destroying their landfill greenhouse gases, the amount Maine receives as part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is greater than it would otherwise be.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative pays participating states for decreases in carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. Those funds are paid by electricity generators that cannot easily decrease their own greenhouse gases and so must purchase “offset” credits from other states.

In the last auction, Maine earned $3.9 million; it’s earned more than $41 million over the life of the program.

The funds go to Efficiency- Maine to assist households and businesses in reducing emissions.

The Department of Environmental Protection plans to send checks to municipalities biannually until the balance has been paid off completely.

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