Colorado Landfills Emit as Much Pollution as 1M Cars

Colorado’s landfills are the third-largest source of methane gas pollution in the state, reports Jennifer Oldham for Colorado Newsline, emitting the equivalent of 1 million gas-powered cars’ worth of methane — a greenhouse gas 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide that also poses a threat to public health.

Now, a proposal to revise the state’s methane regulations would require dump operators to monitor and address methane emissions. “It also addresses loopholes in federal law that allow waste to sit for five years before such systems are required — even though science has shown that half of all food waste decays within about three-and-a-half years.”

The new rules would ban burning emissions directly into the air and mandate biocovers and biofilters to break down gases prior to their release. “The 70-page draft also calls for more routine and thorough monitoring of a dump surface with advanced technologies like satellites, which recently recorded large plumes of methane escaping from a Denver-area landfill.” Experts warn that methane emissions are likely much higher than EPA estimates due to infrequent inspections of facilities.

Some county officials have expressed concern about the cost of complying with the proposed rules, while others embrace the opportunity to make landfills cleaner and more sustainable. “State health officials suggested municipalities could offset the costs of installing gas collection systems at disposal sites by converting methane into energy,” a practice already in use at several Colorado facilities.