Dive summary:
- Waste management engineer Steve Last warns that superstorm Sandy may increase gas explosions at abandoned landfills.
- If any of the landfills receive an influx of water from flooding, or erosion of surface capping, they can start to emit landfill gas that could build up and cause explosions.
- The region affected by superstorm Sandy has one of the largest concentrations of abandoned landfills, thousands of previously contained and safe landfills now pose a serious risk to people living around them.
From the article:
More landfill gas migration explosion incidents may now occur as a result of Superstorm Sandy, according to one industry engineer.
The region affected by the severe storm has one of the largest concentrations of old abandoned landfill sites in the world, said waste management engineer Steve Last, who has investigated landfill gas migration explosion incidents, worked for Houston-based Waste Management Inc. and done other consulting. He said in a news release there are “undoubtedly many thousands of such sites. ...
