new playbook on deploying advanced monitoring tech at landfills - epa has opportunity to act to include tech
RMI, along with contributors WM (formerly Waste Management) and the Environmental Research and Education Foundation, have published a fantastic new resource for landfill operators and government officials on how to reduce methane emissions at landfills, including by deploying readily available advanced monitoring technologies - like drones and satellites - to more quickly find and fix leaks and make continuous improvements to landfill design and operations to prevent fugitive emissions from occurring in the first place.
RMI notes that implementing select best practices — such as earlier gas collection, reduced cell size, and more robust cover — can reduce methane emissions relative to business-as-usual by 16%–44%.
At nearly half (48%) of the 22 sites inspected by the EPA, EPA inspectors found multiple exceedances where landfill operators had previously reported few or no exceedances - Hidden Cost of Landfills Report, Industrious Labs, May 2024
According to the report, only about 600 landfills in the United States are required under federal regulation to conduct quarterly surface emissions monitoring to find exceedences of methane above the legal threshold of 500 parts per million (ppm). Under current federal regulations, this monitoring is conducted by a human being, walking with a handheld gas analyzer around the perimeter and in a serpentine walking pattern on a grid spaced out at about 100 feet to monitor and measure for methane. If a concentration is detected about 500 ppm, the landfill operator must take corrective action to address the exceedance within 10 days.
Human-based monitoring for methane is an approach that sets up the landfill to fail. As RMI’s report notes, “this framework has several limitations, including its incomplete coverage (hazardous areas, construction areas, and the active working face are exempt from monitoring), infrequency (quarterly), and subjectivity (dependent on operator, process, regulatory interpretation, the level of vacuum applied to the GCCS, and other environmental conditions). Furthermore, traditional SEM surveys are physically demanding with many miles of walking and are potentially hazardous for technicians due to terrain, weather conditions, and exposure risks.” In fact, The White House National Strategy to Advance an Integrated U.S. Greenhouse Gas Measurement, Monitoring, and Information System, published in November 2023, states, “Walking survey surface emissions measurements (SEM) required quarterly by Clean Air Act regulations are not able to detect all anomalous emissions at a landfill that occur over a large footprint, some extending for hundreds of acres.”
Turns out, there are plenty of available methane detection technologies available that would be a game-changer to move from searching for a needle in a haystack, to quickly finding methane emissions (quotes are directly from the RMI report):
Comprehensive coverage: “Advanced technologies can safely survey areas of the landfill excluded from current SEM, such as challenging walking terrain, steep slopes, construction areas, and the active working face. Aerial methods can efficiently scan the entire landfill surface area, enabling more extensive coverage of the landfill site.”
Improved worker safety and efficiency: “Advanced monitoring alternatives save workers from hazardous, physically demanding conditions. Walking a landfill can take multiple days, whereas an aerial survey can take less than an hour.”
Improved frequency of monitoring to find emissions: “Advanced monitoring methods can provide more frequent data than quarterly walking SEM. Fixed sensor networks can provide operators with continuous data on potential leaks across a wide variety of environmental and operating conditions. Current and planned satellite constellations also have the capability to scan large areas and identify high-emission events at frequent cadences, such as days to weeks. Drone-based surveys can be conducted more frequently, given the time savings and lower labor intensity.”
Less risk of human error: “Advanced monitoring technologies limit the risk of human error and minimize potential uncertainties around process and regulatory interpretation. Precise flight routes can also be more easily replicated.”
“Fast, actionable data: Advanced monitoring surveys can support and expedite the creation of more detailed monitoring reports that map measured methane concentration to specific GPS locations. Landfill operators can leverage these maps to inform quick repairs and guide operational decisions that maximize emissions reductions. This data can also support more robust recordkeeping in case of audits.”
Greater transparency: “Data collected by advanced methane detection technologies can easily be made available to the public to boost transparency, improve relations, and build trust with nearby communities or other stakeholders.”
These technologies are already in use at some U.S. landfills, as RMI details in the report. But unfortunately these effective technologies are missing from current federal regulations, which is a big missed opportunity. Despite the waste sector’s outsized role in generating greenhouse gasses, and the ease and availability of solutions, the EPA has yet to commit to updating its landfill standards.
The report also provides information on costs - drones, for example, can cost $3,000 - $5,000 per survey - and step-by-step walks through the key considerations around how to deploy monitoring technologies. There’s also useful examples of the technology in action (quoting from report):
“On March 2, 2023, a satellite detected a plume at Landfill A, after a non-detect the day prior. On March 16, the operator was notified of the plume (two-week satellite processing time). Upon notification, the landfill operator deployed environmental technicians with methane detection instruments to find the source of emissions. After surveying the landfill, the environmental technicians discovered three 1-inch pipes, part of a gas system construction project, that had become unsealed. The pipes were properly capped, and repairs were made until the contractor completed the project.”
“On June 16, 2023, Landfill B was notified by a state agency regarding the results of two aircraft flyover events conducted on June 13 and 15. In response, personnel conducted an initial field assessment on June 19. On the same day, a commercial satellite completed a flyover of the site and detected a plume in an area overlapping the aircraft plume detections. The primary causes of the plume detections varied: thinning cover in one area, an exposed operations layer in another area, and trenching for GCCS expansion in an area where gas collection pipe installation was underway." Remediation measures were initiated June 23 (five-business-day response time) and completed by July 26. These measures included adding soil to seal up cover areas, sealing the exposed operations layer, and backfilling and compacting the gas collection pipe installation trenches.”
The EPA is statutorily required to review landfill regulations by this August, and revise them if they deem appropriate. This report is yet another boulder on the mountain of evidence that the EPA can dramatically curb harmful emissions with the stroke of a pen. By updating its landfill emissions regulations, the EPA can implement common-sense, widely available solutions to prevent and control methane emissions, slow climate change, and protect communities.