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89-598: In 1985, the initial portion of a landfill gas collection system was installed to reduce emissions and associated odours emanating into the nearby community. This has been used to generate electricity, which it has continued to do since the landfill's closing, sufficient to power 20,000 homes. The facility is registered in the National Pollutant Release Inventory , with site identification number 7371. The site emitted about 410 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gases in 2011. In 2002,

178-424: A global warming potential of 25 times more effective of a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide on a 100-year time horizon. It is estimated that more than 10% of all global anthropogenic methane emissions are from landfills. Landfill gas projects help aid in the reduction of methane emissions. However, landfill gas collection systems do not collect all the gas generated. Around 4 to 10 percent of landfill gas escapes

267-584: A broad study to assess the impact of airborne contaminants on nearby residents, and Vaughan CARES requested a clinical study from council. In 1988, Jackson had proposed renaming the landfill the Don Valley Dump , a reference to the Don River and valley in Toronto with headwaters originating near Keele Valley, so that residents of Toronto would "understand how expansion of the refuse heap will affect them". In 1990,

356-425: A certificate of approval for the yard waste composting facility. The bylaw in effect was to expire on 31 May 1999 per an Ontario Municipal Board order. The application would allow landfill operation from 1 June 1999 to 31 May 2002, and operation of the composting facility until late 2003. In 1987, owing to media reports that Vaughan council had " learned second-hand about "possibly unacceptable waste" being dumped at

445-479: A contingency plan proposed by York Region was accepted by the Solid Waste Interim Steering Committee (a group represented by the regional chairmen of Metro Toronto, Peel, Halton, York and Durham), for regional waste disposal from 1993 to 1996. It permitted the continued operation of Keele Valley during this time, expanding its capacity by 5 million tonnes. In 1993, Mario Ferri had noted that

534-538: A friend of the court to promote and enhance the environmental rights set out in the Environmental Bill of Rights," said Commissioner Miller. "We want to assist the Court in their understanding of these EBR rights. We also want to make sure the interpretation of this legislation is consistent with the province's broader strategy of protecting, conserving and restoring the natural environment." The Commissioner would not take

623-491: A landfill site was the North Vaughan site, adjacent to King City at the northern boundary of Vaughan near Jane Street , which was deemed by Superior-Crawford to be "extremely disruptive" to King City and neighbouring Vaughan residents. Local residents strongly disliked the dump due to the odours and constant truck traffic it generated, and were opposed to its expansion. As early as 1990, organisations were active in opposing

712-594: A large gravel pit which was purchased by the city of Toronto in the 1970s for CA$ 38 million. Before its opening, Toronto's trash was sent to the Beare Road Landfill in Scarborough , and Vaughan's trash was sent to a site about 1 kilometre north of Keele Valley, north of Teston Road. When it opened, the Keele Valley Landfill was within an almost entirely rural setting, but the rapid growth of Maple in

801-419: A mandatory recycling bylaw; previously, participation was voluntary. The site of the Keele Valley Landfill has been partially redeveloped. The garbage has been covered by a 1.2 metre thick layer of soil, but it will take many decades for trash to decompose. The actual site of the landfill is not suitable for redevelopment until 2028, but some of the land surrounding it has already been put to new use. Adjacent to

890-648: A number of concerns regarding expansion of the facility, including the existence of the Maple Nursing Home on Keele Street, which would result in an "insufficient buffer between the home and new landfill, according to IWA standards". By August 1993, the IWA stated that it would consider the merits of expanding Keele Valley if "technical concerns of the IWA can be satisfactorily addressed by Superior-Crawford", eliciting strong objections from Vaughan mayor Lorna Jackson and Vaughan CARES . In 1994, Jackson urged Vaughan council for

979-408: A number of sources that has nothing to do with a municipality, the traditional role of municipalities in collecting and managing these kinds of waste have produced the particular etymology 'municipal.' The composition of municipal solid waste varies greatly from municipality to municipality, and it changes significantly with time. In municipalities which have a well-developed waste recycling system,

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1068-406: A retention time of 0.3 seconds which is said to result in greater than 98% destruction efficiency. The combustion temperature is an important controlling factor as if greater than 1100 °C, there is a danger of the exponential formation of thermal NOx. Landfill gas must be treated to remove impurities, condensate, and particulates. The treatment system depends on the end use. Minimal treatment

1157-477: A section of a MSW landfill undergoes after placement. Typically, in a large landfill, different areas of the site will be at different stages at the same time. The landfill gas production rate will reach a maximum at around 5 years and start to decline. Landfill gas follows first-order kinetic decay after decline begins with a k-value ranging 0.02 yr-1 for arid conditions and 0.065 yr-1 for wet conditions. The Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) provides

1246-467: A single engineered landfill liner to prevent leachate from entering the aquifer below. An on-site Household Hazardous Waste depot collected paint, batteries, pesticides, cleaning agents and other hazardous waste in small (residential) quantities. A general recycling depot, to which residents and businesses could bring appliances (refrigerators, stoves, washing machines, etc.), corrugated cardboard, drywall, scrap metal and tires for recycling operated at

1335-493: A specific position on the issue, but was concerned about the Ontario Court of Appeal's reasoning for the rejection of the litigation. The Ontario Court of Appeal had stated that a class action lawsuit could not proceed because "the residents' complaints were not similar enough and were spread over too many years to constitute a common cause" The Supreme Court date was moved to 13 June 2001, before which Miller stated "The framers of

1424-418: A worldwide online registry of unwanted items that would otherwise be thrown away, for individuals and nonprofits to reuse or recycle. Therefore, this free Internet-based service reduces landfill pollution and promotes the gift economy . Landfills are created by land dumping. Land dumping methods vary, most commonly it involves the mass dumping of waste into a designated area, usually a hole or sidehill. After

1513-452: Is a combined cycle plant consisting of two 1 MW gas turbines , two boilers which operate on landfill gas and recovered waste heat , and one 30 MW steam turbine . The pipe system extracts 17,005 standard cubic feet per minute (119 million cubic metres annually) of landfill gases from the collection field, which consists of "over 40,000 linear metres of horizontal gas collection trenches and 80 vertical gas collection wells installed within

1602-470: Is a legislative requirement for utilities to sell or generate a percentage of their electricity from renewable sources including landfill gas. Some states require all utilities to comply, while others require only public utilities to comply. In 2005, 166 million tons of MSW were discarded to landfills in the United States. Roughly 120 kg of methane is generated from every ton of MSW. Methane has

1691-487: Is a process of gathering, processing, and treating the methane or another gas emitted from decomposing garbage to produce electricity, heat, fuels, and various chemical compounds. After fossil fuel and agriculture, landfill gas is the third largest human generated source of methane. Compared to CO 2 , methane is 25 times more potent as a greenhouse gas . It is important not only to control its emission but, where conditions allow, use it to generate energy, thus offsetting

1780-547: Is cheaper than natural gas and holds about half the heating value at 16,785 – 20,495 kJ/m3 (450 – 550 Btu/ft3) as compared to 35,406 kJ/m3 (950 Btu/ft3) of natural gas. Boilers, dryers, and kilns are used often because they maximize use of the gas, limited treatment is needed, and the gas can be mixed with other fuels. Boilers use the gas to transform water into steam for use in various applications. For boilers, about 8,000 to 10,000  pounds per hour of steam can be generated for every 1  million metric tons of waste-in-place at

1869-505: Is generated through the degradation of municipal solid waste (MSW) and other biodegradable waste, by microorganisms . Aerobic conditions (presence of oxygen) leads to predominately CO 2 emissions. In anaerobic conditions, as is typical of landfills, methane and CO 2 are produced in a ratio of 60:40. Methane ( CH 4 ) is the important component of landfill gas as it has a calorific value of 33.95 MJ/Nm^3 which gives rise to energy generation benefits. The amount of methane that

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1958-454: Is needed for the direct use of gas in boilers, furnaces, or kilns. Using the gas in electricity generation typically requires more in-depth treatment. Treatment systems are divided into primary and secondary treatment processing. Primary processing systems remove moisture and particulates . Gas cooling and compression are common in primary processing. Secondary treatment systems employ multiple cleanup processes, physical and chemical, depending on

2047-614: Is no single approach that can be applied to the management of all waste streams, therefore the Environmental Protection Agency , a U.S. federal government agency, developed a hierarchy ranking strategy for municipal solid waste. The waste management hierarchy is made up of four levels ordered from most preferred to least preferred methods based on their environmental soundness: Source reduction and reuse; recycling or composting; energy recovery ; treatment and disposal. The functional element of collection includes not only

2136-403: Is not a dump; it is an engineered facility used for disposing of solid wastes on land without creating nuisances or hazards to public health or safety, such as the problems of insects and the contamination of groundwater . In recent years, environmental organizations, such as Freegle or The Freecycle Network , have been gaining popularity for their online reuse networks. These networks provide

2225-446: Is not occurring. On average, closed landfills have gas collection systems that capture about 84% of produced gas, compared to about 67% for open landfills. Landfill gas can also be extracted through horizontal trenches instead of vertical wells. Both systems are effective at collecting. Landfill gas is extracted and piped to a main collection header, where it is sent to be treated or flared. The main collection header can be connected to

2314-691: Is performed by the municipality within a given area. The term residual waste relates to waste left from household sources containing materials that have not been separated out or sent for processing. Waste can be classified in several ways, but the following list represents a typical classification: For example, typical municipal solid waste in China is composed of 55.9% food residue, 8.5% paper, 11.2% plastics, 3.2% textiles, 2.9% wood waste, 0.8% rubber, and 18.4% non-combustibles. The municipal solid waste industry has four components: recycling , composting , disposal , and waste-to-energy via incineration. There

2403-461: Is produced varies significantly based on composition of the waste. Most of the methane produced in MSW landfills is derived from food waste , composite paper, and corrugated cardboard which comprise 19.4 ± 5.5%, 21.9 ± 5.2%, and 20.9 ± 7.1% respectively on average of MSW landfills in the United States. The rate of landfill gas production varies with the age of the landfill. There are 4 common phases that

2492-509: Is typically accomplished through the installation of wells – vertically and/or horizontally – in the waste mass. Design heuristics for vertical wells call for about one well per acre of landfill surface, whereas horizontal wells are normally spaced about 50 to 200 feet apart on center. Efficient gas collection can be accomplished at both open and closed landfills, but closed landfills have systems that are more efficient, owing to greater deployment of collection infrastructure since active filling

2581-635: The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario , was granted intervenor status to the litigation, which would be presented to the Supreme Court on 18 June 2001. The commissioner's intervenor status in the case was to support the litigant's claim of the landfill being a public nuisance , per provisions in the Environmental Bill of Rights of Ontario. "The Supreme Court's decision in this case gives my office our first opportunity to intervene as

2670-522: The Resource Conservation Recovery Act , such as requiring liners and groundwater monitoring. This is because landfills pose the threat of pollution and can contaminate groundwater. The signs of pollution are effectively masked by disposal companies, and it is often hard to see any evidence. Usually, landfills are surrounded by large walls or fences hiding the mounds of debris. Large amounts of chemical odor eliminating agent are sprayed in

2759-653: The United States and rubbish in Britain , is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. " Garbage " can also refer specifically to food waste , as in a garbage disposal ; the two are sometimes collected separately. In the European Union, the semantic definition is 'mixed municipal waste,' given waste code 20 03 01 in the European Waste Catalog. Although the waste may originate from

Keele Valley landfill - Misplaced Pages Continue

2848-467: The 1990s surrounded the site with residential developments. The site opened on 28 November 1983 based on an agreement between Metropolitan Toronto and York Region, under which Toronto was required to dispose of York's waste until 2003 in exchange for establishing the Keele Valley site. The site accepted garbage from the area of Toronto west of Yonge Street , whereas garbage from areas east of Yonge Street

2937-551: The EBR in conjunction with the requirements of the Class Proceedings Act." On 18 October 2001, the case was dismissed by the Supreme Court, and the appeal was closed on 26 November. The resident class-action lawsuit eventually prompted Vaughan City Council to favour closing the site, and shipping York Region's and Toronto's garbage elsewhere. In 2000, Jackson declared to Toronto City Council that Vaughan Council would not extend

3026-431: The Environmental Bill of Rights believed strongly in the public's right to sue for damages because of a public nuisance causing environmental harm." The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario made oral submissions to the Supreme Court "regarding the role of class actions in protecting environment, the legal threshold for bringing such class actions, and the appropriate test the Court should apply when considering Section 103 of

3115-524: The LandGEM (Landfill Gas Emissions Model), a first-order decay model which aids in the determination of landfill gas production for an individual landfill. Typically, gas extraction rates from a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill range from 25 to 10000 m /h where Landfill sites typically range from 100,000 m to 10 million m of waste in place. MSW landfill gas typically has roughly 45 to 60% methane and 40 to 60% carbon dioxide, depending on

3204-507: The Ontario provincial standards for municipal solid waste (MSW) and Drinking Water Objectives (DWO). Also included are results from a 2002 paper about Keele Valley leachate analysis by Fleming and D. Rowe, and a 1995 paper by R.K. Rowe. From 1985, a system to collect and flare gas was installed by its operators to mitigate the potential effects of landfill gas , including methane , which constitutes 47% of landfill gases at this site. This system

3293-565: The U.K. and EU enclosed flares, from which the flame is not visible are mandatory at modern landfill sites. Flares can be either open or enclosed, but the latter are typically more expensive as they provide high combustion temperatures and specific residence times as well as limit noise and light pollution. Some US states require the use of enclosed flares over open flares. Higher combustion temperatures and residence times destroy unwanted constituents such as un-burnt hydrocarbons. General accepted values are an exhaust gas temperature of 1000 °C with

3382-560: The United States was the Frank R. Bowerman Landfill in Orange County, California . The same process is used for the conversion to CNG, but on a smaller scale. The CNG project at Puente Hills Landfill in Los Angeles has realized $ 1.40 per gallon of gasoline equivalent with the flow rate of 250 scfm. Cost per gallon equivalent reduces as the flow rate of gas increases. LNG can be produced through

3471-455: The air surrounding landfills to hide the evidence of the rotting waste inside the plant. Municipal solid waste produces enormous amounts of methane , a potent greenhouse gas . However, nearly 90% of these methane emissions could be avoided with existing technologies. In particular, municipal solid waste can be used to generate energy because of the lipid content present within it. A lot of MSW products can be converted into clean energy if

3560-591: The amount of air introduced to the site, either through active gas extraction or from inadequate sealing (capping) of the landfill site. Depending on the composition of the waste in place, there are many other minor components that comprises roughly 1% which includes H 2 S , NO x , SO 2 , CO , non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), etc. All of these gases are harmful to human health at high doses. Landfill gas collection

3649-535: The atmosphere, resulting in acid rain . The city of Toronto receives approximately $ 1 million in royalty payments annually for recovering the landfill gases which are used at the power plant. In 1993, Superior-Crawford Sand & Gravel Ltd., which owned most of the adjacent land, promoted the site's expansion, which it had also suggested in 1991. The company conducted feasibility studies for expansion, and actively campaigned for it, claiming that with expansion an additional 52 million tonnes of waste could be accepted at

Keele Valley landfill - Misplaced Pages Continue

3738-827: The base of the heap of garbage that day to celebrate the landfill's closing with champagne, cake, and fireworks. Toronto had no immediate replacement facility, as the proposed Adams Mine project in Kirkland Lake met strong local and environmental opposition. After the closure of the landfill Toronto transported its waste to the Carleton Farms Landfill in Michigan . The city had started shipping 250,000 tonnes of garbage to Michigan as early as 1998, delaying closure of Keele Valley from 1998 to 2002. From 1998 to 2002, between 60 and 70 transport trucks carrying 34 tonnes of waste each were sent daily to Michigan along Highway 401 ; after

3827-525: The blower (2008). LMOP provides a software model to predict collection system costs. If gas extraction rates do not warrant direct use or electricity generation, the gas can be flared off in order to avoid uncontrolled release to the atmosphere. One hundred m /h is a practical threshold for flaring in the U.S. In the U.K, gas engines are used with a capacity of less than 100m3/h. Flares are useful in all landfill gas systems as they can help control excess gas extraction spikes and maintenance down periods. In

3916-538: The city's waste management costs; closing Keele Valley also reduced the city's revenues, as it would no longer collect tipping fees it had charged private waste disposal companies to dump at the landfill. The city anticipated increased yearly costs of $ 41.8 million in a December 2002 report, owing to an increase in garbage disposal costs of about 300%. Of that, $ 13.4 million was due to higher disposal costs in Michigan, $ 25.8 million in foregone revenue, and $ 2.6 million related to

4005-466: The closing of Keele Valley, 130 trucks were sent daily. However, the Avondale Composting Site operated through most of 2003, accepting clean fill at $ 30 per load, for revenues of approximately $ 250,000 that year, also processing existing waste into compost. At Keele Valley, the city incurred costs of $ 15–20 per tonne of garbage processed. Sending it to Michigan cost $ 52 a tonne, increasing

4094-671: The closure of the leaf and yard waste composting site. In 2006 the city purchased the Green Lane landfill near London , which will become the new destination for the city's waste. In order to address issues related to the costs of sending garbage to landfill sites, the city began a pilot green bin program in Etobicoke in September 2002, expanding the program throughout the city by 2005. This reduced landfill waste material by 30%, and increased waste diversion to about 42%. The city also established

4183-680: The collection system of a typical landfill with a gas collection system. The use of landfill gas is considered a green fuel source because it offsets the use of environmentally damaging fuels such as oil or natural gas , destroys the heat-trapping gas methane, and the gas is generated by deposits of waste that are already in place. 450 of the 2,300 landfills in the United States have operational landfill gas utilization projects as of 2007. LMOP has estimated that approximately 520 landfills that currently exist could use landfill gas (enough to power 700,000 homes). Landfill gas projects also decrease local pollution, and create jobs, revenues and cost savings. Of

4272-559: The contribution of two major sources of greenhouse gases towards climate change . The number of landfill gas projects, which convert the gas into power, went from 399 in 2005 to 519 in 2009 in the United States, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These projects are popular because they control energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions . These projects collect the methane gas and treat it, so it can be used for electricity or upgraded to pipeline-grade gas to power homes, buildings, and vehicles. Landfill gas (LFG)

4361-403: The disposal of wastes by land filling or land spreading is the ultimate fate of all solid wastes, whether they are residential wastes collected and transported directly to a landfill site, residual materials from materials recovery facilities (MRFs), residue from the combustion of solid waste, compost , or other substances from various solid waste processing facilities. A modern sanitary landfill

4450-440: The expansion of the landfill, most prominently Vaughan CARES . Primary objections to the expansion were the existence of new houses built less than one kilometre from the site, the construction of St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School at the nearby intersection of McNaughton Road and Saint Joan of Arc Avenue, and the planned development of a residential community for 30,000 people in adjacent parts of Richmond Hill . The IWA cited

4539-693: The federal and state level. The Department of the Treasury , Department of Energy , Department of Agriculture , and Department of Commerce all provide federal incentives for landfill gas projects. Typically, incentives are in the form of tax credits, bonds, or grants. For example, the Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit (PTC) gives a corporate tax credit of 1.1 cents per kWh for landfill projects above 150 kW. Various states and private foundations give incentives to landfill gas projects. A Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)

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4628-436: The form of CNG ( compressed natural gas ) or LNG ( liquid natural gas ). CNG and LNG can be used on site to power hauling trucks or equipment or sold commercially. Three commonly used methods to extract the carbon dioxide from the gas are membrane separation, molecular sieve , and amine scrubbing. Oxygen and nitrogen are controlled by the proper design and operation of the landfill since the primary cause for oxygen or nitrogen in

4717-399: The gas can go to power infrared heaters in buildings local to the landfill, provide heat and power to local greenhouses, and power the energy intensive activities of a studio engaged in pottery, metalworking or glass-blowing. Heat is fairly inexpensive to employ with the use of a boiler. A microturbine would be needed to provide power in low gas extraction rate situations. The gas coming from

4806-475: The gas flow. An RP engine (less than 1 MW) can typically cost $ 2,300 per kW with annual operation and maintenance costs of $ 210 per kW. An RP engine (greater than 800 kW) can typically cost $ 1,700 per kW with annual operation and maintenance costs of $ 180 per kW. Estimates are in 2010 dollars. Gas turbines , another form of internal combustion engine, usually meet an efficiency of 20 to 28 percent at full load with landfill gas. Efficiencies drop when

4895-451: The gas is intrusion from outside into the landfill because of a difference in pressure. The high-Btu processing equipment can be expected to cost $ 2,600 to $ 4,300 per standard cubic foot per minute (scfm) of landfill gas. Annual costs range from $ 875,000 to $ 3.5 million to operate, maintain and provide electricity to. Costs depend on quality of the end product gas as well as the size of the project. The first landfill gas to LNG facility in

4984-449: The gathering of solid waste and recyclable materials, but also the transport of these materials, after collection, to the location where the collection vehicle is emptied. This location may be a materials processing facility, a transfer station or a landfill disposal site. Waste handling and separation involves activities associated with waste management until the waste is placed in storage containers for collection. Handling also encompasses

5073-682: The landfill can be used to evaporate leachate in situations where leachate is fairly expensive to treat. The system to evaporate the leachate costs $ 300,000 to $ 500,000 to put in place with operations and maintenance costs of $ 70,000 to $ 95,000 per year. A 30,000 gallons per day evaporator costs $ .05 - $ .06 per gallon. The cost per gallon increases as the evaporator size decreases. A 10,000 gallons per day evaporator costs $ .18 - $ .20 per gallon. Estimates are in 2007 dollars. Landfill gas can be converted to high-Btu gas by reducing its carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen content. The high-Btu gas can be piped into existing natural gas pipelines or in

5162-607: The landfill gas extraction rate is large enough, a gas turbine or internal combustion engine could be used to produce electricity to sell commercially or use on site. More than 70 percent of all landfill electricity projects use reciprocating piston (RP) engines , a form of internal combustion engine , because of relatively low cost, high efficiency, and good size match with most landfills. RP engines usually achieve an efficiency of 25 to 35 percent with landfill gas. However, RP engines can be added or removed to follow gas trends. Each engine can achieve 150 kW to 3 MW, depending on

5251-667: The landfill sits upon the Oak Ridges Moraine , which would, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources , preclude the site's further expansion. For the Ontario general election of 1990 , the site was used as a campaign stop by Bob Rae and the NDP candidate for York Centre , during which they promised that if elected, the site would not be expanded without a complete environmental assessment . In 1996, Metropolitan Toronto council indicated that

5340-428: The landfill's closing date beyond 2002, and rejected a proposal to operate it at half capacity until 2006. Some 28 million tonnes of garbage were placed in the 376 hectare dump during its operation. The 99 hectare portion of the site designated as landfill reached its volumetric capacity in 2002, and was closed on New Year's Eve that year. Thousands of residents and Vaughan councillor Mario Ferri gathered at

5429-430: The landfill, prompting the imposition of a tipping fee in 1990 for pickup trucks and small trailers. Commercial haulers were charged $ 18 per tonne in 1988, and $ 97 per tonne in 1990. The site was a profitable venture for the city of Toronto. In its last year of operation in 2002, it generated $ 25 million of revenue. It processed 1.57 million tonnes of waste in 1986, and 2.2 million tonnes in 1988, most of which increase

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5518-462: The landfill. Most direct use projects use boilers. General Motors saves $ 500,000 on energy costs per year at each of the four plants owned by General Motors that has implemented landfill gas boilers. Disadvantages of Boilers, dryers, and kilns are that they need to be retrofitted in order to accept the gas and the end user has to be nearby (within roughly 5  miles) as pipelines will need to be built. In situations with low gas extraction rates,

5607-515: The landfilled waste". Circling the site is a 10,000 linear metre dual header piping system which is used for the transmission of gas from the wells and trenches to the flaring station. The power plant emits nitric oxide for which it has an emission allowance from the Ontario Emissions Trading Registry . Nitric oxide is an air pollutant which has a participatory role in ozone layer depletion and which may form nitric acid in

5696-501: The leachate collection system to collect condensate forming in the pipes. A blower is needed to pull the gas from the collection wells to the collection header and further downstream. A 40-acre (160,000 m ) landfill gas collection system with a flare designed for a 600 ft /min extraction rate is estimated to cost $ 991,000 (approximately $ 24,000 per acre) with annual operation and maintenance costs of $ 166,000 per year at $ 2,250 per well, $ 4,500 per flare and $ 44,500 per year to operate

5785-543: The lipid content can be accessed and utilized. Several technologies have been developed that make the processing of MSW for energy generation cleaner and more economical than ever before, including landfill gas capture, combustion, pyrolysis , gasification , and plasma arc gasification . While older waste incineration plants emitted a lot of pollutants, recent regulatory changes and new technologies have significantly reduced this concern. United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations in 1995 and 2000 under

5874-484: The liquification of CNG. However, the oxygen content needs to be reduced to be under 0.5% to avoid explosion concerns, the carbon dioxide content must be as close to zero as possible to avoid freezing problems encountered in the production, and nitrogen must be reduced enough to achieve at least 96% methane. A $ 20 million facility is estimated to achieve $ 0.65/gallon for a plant producing 15,000 gallons/day of LNG (3,000 scfm). Estimates are in 2007 dollars. If

5963-421: The methane, some of which escaped the landfill site. The leachate "made the mounds collapse periodically, causing exhalations of methane, giving off its pungent rotten-egg, hydrogen sulfate stench." The odour would spread throughout the nearby residential areas, and led to a class-action lawsuit initiated by John Hollick, a Maple resident, on behalf of 30,000 residents of Maple against the city of Toronto in 1997. It

6052-459: The movement of loaded containers to the point of collection. Separating different types of waste components is an important step in the handling and storage of solid waste at the source of collection. The types of means and facilities that are now used for the recovery of waste materials that have been separated at the source include kerbside collection, drop-off, and buy-back centres. The separation and processing of wastes that have been separated at

6141-411: The original IWA list of 57 potential sites in 1992. The company also mailed pamphlets to 7,000 residents in communities near sites on the IWA short list as part of its campaign. Although expansion of the Keele Valley landfill was not originally a viable option, the legal actions by Superior-Crawford "could very easily change the context", according to Walter Pitman of the IWA. The other viable candidate for

6230-425: The property. In 1994, York Region filed a $ 132 million lawsuit against the city of Toronto because it charged higher tipping fees to trucks that had collected waste from York Region than it did to those that had collected waste from Toronto. The suit also requested that the court rescind York Region's permission to the city of Toronto to operate the Keele Valley Landfill. The gas collection system did not collect all

6319-428: The roughly 450 landfill gas projects operational in 2007, 11 billion kWh of electricity was generated and 78 billion cubic feet of gas was supplied to end users. These totals amount to roughly 17,500,000 acres (7,100,000 ha) of pine or fir forests or annual emissions from 14,000,000 passenger vehicles. Municipal solid waste Municipal solid waste ( MSW ), commonly known as trash or garbage in

6408-446: The site " a provincial-municipal liaison committee was established to investigate and report on the material being dumped at the landfill. In 1989, the city of Toronto wanted to expropriate 46 hectares of land near the landfill in order to mine it for clay, which it would use to line the landfill. Multiple lawsuits were filed against the city: from 1,500 residents of Maple; from the town of Vaughan; and from Liford Holdings Ltd., owners of

6497-462: The site closing. The cost of clean fill also increased to $ 20 per tonne on that date. Hazardous materials, including biomedical waste and asbestos, were treated before final disposal. The table below shows the concentration of various leachate chemicals at the Keele Valley Landfill based on the October 2000 report Final Report East Taro Landfill . It compares the Keele Valley peak annual average data to

6586-484: The site for 20 years, starting in 1996. The report, based on research conducted by consultants hired by the company, claimed that Keele Valley was the most suitable site for consideration based on criteria defined by the Interim Waste Authority (IWA). The company's proposal was to expand the landfill site to include 190 hectares of land owned by Superior-Crawford and 60 hectares of other nearby land, most of which

6675-532: The site was identified by the Government of Ontario as an Area of High Aquifer Vulnerability , which would prohibit waste disposal and organic soil conditioning facilities being built or operating there per the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan . Vaughan's Official Plan Amendment 604 (OPA 604) specified that the site would be redeveloped as an open public space . The site was originally

6764-568: The site would have to be expanded if "stringent environmental legislation" was enacted by the province. The city of Toronto and a Zoning Board of Appeal (ZBA) "to permit the continued accessory waste management uses in the Primary Buffer Area at the [376 ha] Keele Valley Landfill Site and yard waste composting at the [66 ha] Avondale Clay Extraction site". It also applied for an amendment to the Environmental Protection Act for

6853-461: The site, as did a tire recycling depot. The facility also had a yard waste drop-off area, from which the operators would transport material for composting in large outdoor windrows on a site north of the landfill, at the Avondale Composting Site. It also accepted waste brought by residents of households in York Region, but building contractors abused the privilege by bringing numerous small loads to

6942-402: The source and the separation of commingled wastes usually occur at a materials recovery facility, transfer stations, combustion facilities, and treatment plants. This element involves two main steps. First, the waste is transferred from a smaller collection vehicle to larger transport equipment. The waste is then transported, usually over long distances, to a processing or disposal site. Today,

7031-635: The southeastern part of the site is a golf course built in 2006, the Eagle's Nest Golf Club. In 2005, soccer fields and baseball diamonds were built on the north end of the site. As of 2024, plans are underway for a proposed Teston Road connecting link on the northern border of the closed landfill. A Lowe's home improvement warehouse is located near the entrance to the former dump on McNaughton Road. 43°52′09″N 79°29′52″W  /  43.8691°N 79.4978°W  / 43.8691; -79.4978 Landfill gas utilization Landfill gas utilization

7120-424: The specifications of the end use. Two constituents that may need to be removed are siloxanes and sulfur compounds , which are damaging to equipment and significantly increase maintenance cost. Adsorption and absorption are the most common technologies used in secondary treatment processing. Pipelines transmit gas to boilers , dryers , or kilns , where it is used much in the same way as natural gas. Landfill gas

7209-1795: The turbine is operating at partial load. Gas turbines have relatively low maintenance costs and nitrogen oxide emissions when compared to RP engines. Gas turbines require high gas compression, which uses more electricity to compress, therefore reducing the efficiency. Gas turbines are also more resistant to corrosive damage than RP engines. Gas turbines need a minimum of 1,300 cfm and typically exceed 2,100 cfm and can generate 1 to 10 MW. A gas turbine (greater than 3 MW) can typically cost $ 1,400 per kW with annual operation and maintenance costs of $ 130 per kW. Estimates are in 2010 dollars. Microturbines can produce electricity with lower amounts of landfill gas than gas turbines or RP engines. Microturbines can operate between 20 and 200 cfm and emit less nitrogen oxides than RP engines. Also, they can function with less methane content (as little as 35 percent). Microturbines require extensive gas treatment and come in sizes of 30, 70, and 250 kW. A microturbine (less than 1 MW) can typically cost $ 5,500 per kW with annual operation and maintenance costs of $ 380 per kW. Estimates are in 2010 dollars. Research has been performed indicating that molten carbonate fuel cells could be fueled by landfill gas. Molten carbonate fuel cells require less purity than typical fuel cells, but still require extensive treatment. The separation of acid gases (HCl, HF, and SO 2 ), VOC oxidation (H 2 S removal) and siloxane removal are required for molten carbonate fuel cells. Fuel cells are typically run on hydrogen and hydrogen can be produced from landfill gas. Hydrogen used in fuel cells have zero emissions, high efficiency, and low maintenance costs. Various landfill gas project incentives exist for United States projects at

7298-513: The waste is dumped, it is then compacted by large machines. When the dumping cell is full, it is then "sealed" with a plastic sheet and covered in several feet of dirt. This is the primary method of dumping in the United States because of the low cost and abundance of unused land in North America. Landfills are regulated in the US by the Environmental Protection Agency , which enforces standards provided in

7387-749: The waste stream mainly consists of intractable wastes such as plastic film and non-recyclable packaging materials . At the start of the 20th century, the majority of domestic waste (53%) in the UK consisted of coal ash from open fires. In developed areas without significant recycling activity it predominantly includes food wastes, market wastes, yard wastes , plastic containers and product packaging materials, and other miscellaneous solid wastes from residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial sources. Most definitions of municipal solid waste do not include industrial wastes , agricultural wastes, medical waste , radioactive waste or sewage sludge . Waste collection

7476-433: Was by the private sector. By 2000, it was processing 1.4 million tonnes of garbage from the city of Toronto. The site collected approximately 28 million tonnes of waste throughout its operational lifetime. In 1999 biomedical waste constituted 4,300 tonnes and asbestos constituted 4,900 tonnes of the waste collected that year. The fee for disposing such waste was $ 50 per tonne before 3 January 2000, and $ 75 thereafter until

7565-408: Was collected from the site and diverted to a central blower and flare station via gas transmission pipes. Most of this gas is then directed to the electricity generating station, which has a peak generation capacity of about 33,000 kilowatts . It generates 274,800,000 kilowatt hour of power annually, delivering 31,370 of continuous power. Five percent of the collected gas is combusted and flared. It

7654-527: Was installed in progressive stages until 2002 as the waste accumulated in the landfill. In 1993, Eastern Power Developers won a bid to develop an electricity generation station at the landfill, which it built in 1994 at a cost of $ 30 million. By April 1995, it was in operation, selling electricity to Ontario Hydro's electricity distribution department (now Hydro One and the Independent Electricity System Operator ). The landfill gas

7743-484: Was owned by Metropolitan Toronto. On 20 May 1993, Michael Jeffery, a lawyer for the company, stated that the company would file a lawsuit to challenge the IWA site selection process if Keele Valley expansion was excluded from consideration. By the following week, Superior-Crawford had filed a legal suit contesting the choices of the IWA report for future landfill sites to host the region's garbage, favouring expansion of Keele Valley. It had complained about its exclusion from

7832-585: Was rejected by the Ontario Court of Appeal in December 1999, but was taken to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2001. The allegations in the lawsuit were that methane, hydrogen sulphide , and vinyl chloride gases were not sufficiently contained to the site, causing air pollution in the area, that truck traffic created noise pollution , and that seagull droppings were problematic. On 1 March 2001, Gord Miller ,

7921-479: Was sent to the Brock Road Landfills . The York municipalities of King and Georgina continued to dispose of their waste in local landfill for some time, whereas the others paid dumping fees to the city of Toronto for use of the Keele Valley Landfill. The site was originally scheduled to close in 1993, at which time it was expected to reach its capacity of 20 million tonnes. It overlays a sand aquifer , using

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