Bath residents may be aware of some noticeable odors in the next few weeks as a landfill gas management project is currently underway.

The project, which consists of installing gas collection pipes and constructing a new access road in the landfill, is “going as planned,” according to Public Works Deputy Director Lee Leiner. The procedure will reduce the effects of landfill gas by digging trenches and installing new pipes that will connect to the landfill’s gas collection system and flare, according to the city website.

As odors from trash and gas are constantly generated by waste placed in the landfill, the gas flare, which was constructed in 2008, draws the gas out of the landfill, said Leiner.

“It’s like a straw, drawing the gases out and feeding it to the flare,” he said.

Before the flare was installed, Leiner said the city had a series of “passive” flares that did not actively draw the gas out of the system. Before then, there hadn’t been a collection system in place at all.

He explained the procedure was fairly minor, saying “we’re not reinventing the wheels on this one, and this is not the first time we’ve done this.”

Leiner added that the process is completed every couple of years, depending on how fast trash is added to the landfill.

“Every time you add 30 feet of trash, you put another layer of pipes — the last layer of pipes is buried pretty deep — to capture gas from newly placed waste,” he said on Wednesday.

The project’s general contractor Crooker Construction will be sifting through existing waste as trenches are dug, which may contribute to the odor. Sevee Maher Engineers will also be on site during the project to monitor activity, according to the city website.

When asked whether the landfill was filling up more quickly in recent years, Leiner said it was a matter of perspective.

“We’re trying to balance how fast it is filling with how much it costs to operate it without going over in either extreme,” he said.

The project also includes putting intermediate covers over about an acre of the landfill after the gas collection pipes have been installed. Heavy plastic sheets will be placed over spots in the landfill that have reached a final design grade or taken a “final form,” said Leiner. The sheets will also seal the spot for a few years before a final cap.

So far, Leiner said there have been no complaints of smell, and residents living closer to the landfill were warned of possible odor in advance before the project began.

“Being proactive makes everyone feel better,” he said.

The project, which began on Aug. 17, is expected to be completed by early October.

dkim@timesrecord.com

‘Going’ OK

THE PROJECT, which consists of installing gas collection pipes and constructing a new access road in the landfill, is “going as planned,” according to Public Works Deputy Director Lee Leiner. The project is expected to be done by October.

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