It Could Stink For A Long Time In Roxbury, NJ

Study Shows That Rotten Egg Smell From Fenimore Landfill May Take Years To Diminish

Odor Problem Was Known for Years BEFORE DEP Approved New Disposal Plan

Y axis units are cubic feet of hydrogen sulfide gas

A DEP spokesman said last week he’s reluctant to estimate how long it will take before that system makes a noticeable difference.  Star Ledger  – 8/30/13)

I was just doing a little background research for residents who live nearby the Harrison landfill in Gloucester County, where DEP is busy creating another Fenimore landfill disaster (more to follow on that soon), and came across this interesting research Report on landfill odor problems resulting from hydrogen sulfide gas from decomposing disposal of wall board and construction & demolition waste.

Modeling of Hydrogen Sulfide Generation from Landfills Beneficially Utilizing Processed Construction and Demolition Materials 

The Report found that:

“Increasingly over the past decade, C&D debris processing residuals and fines have been used as landfill daily cover material and to close and cap old landfills. C&D debris processing residuals and fines (C&D fines) are favored by numerous landfill operators as an alternate daily cover material (ADC) as they are superior in many ways to traditional soil cover materials. However, one potential issue with use of C&D fines has been the increase in landfill gas (LFG) odors due to production of H2S and other reduced sulfur compounds. Increases in generation of reduced sulfur compounds in the LFG stems from the small pieces of gypsum wallboard contained in the fines. These LFG issues were unexpected and many landfill operations had to increase resources in LFG management and odor abatement as a result. Regulators have become involved in several states, implementing policies for use of C&D fines, management of LFG and control of odors. As a result, some landfills have stopped utilizing C&D fines altogether.

The paper was published in 2010 – at that time, researchers noted that “some landfills have stopped utilizing C&D fines altogether” due to odor problems.

I guess DEP engineers didn’t read that paper before approving the disposal scheme at the Fenimore and Harrison landfills. Researchers found:

Significant amounts of H2S can be generated in a landfill environment when waste with high sulfur content such as gypsum wallboard and other calcium sulfate containing products are accepted. In a landfill environment, sulfur reducing bacteria use sulfate as their terminal electron acceptor during decomposition and release hydrogen sulfide gas. This has been shown to occur at locations throughout the U.S (Lee et al., 2006; Eun et al., 2007). The potential for H2S generation in a landfill depends on a number of factors, including sulfate quantities, moisture content, pH, and the quantity of degradable organic matter available (Yang, 2000). […]

“H2S and other reduced sulfur compounds are odiferous. Generation of reduced sulfur compounds in a landfill is one of the most common causes of landfill related odors. H2S has a low odor detection threshold; the lowest reported odors derived from H2S have been detected at concentrations as low as 0.5 ppb by 2 percent of the population in study groups, with the lowest detection at 0.43 ppb (Collins and Lewis, 2000). In the northeast, landfills that have experienced serious odor issues related to H2S have improved LFG collection through system expansions and increased operations and maintenance of existing LFG systems. H2S testing programs were implemented at many of the landfill sites in an attempt to qualify H2S concentrations. Testing programs varied from site to site but in many cases involved use of field indicator tubes in combination with periodic analysis of gas samples at testing laboratories. In some cases, testing was conducted to quantify potential stack emissions (e.g., SO2) or to size H2S treatment systems. In other cases, LFG testing for H2S is a requirement of the facility permit.

Bad news for the folks up in Roxbury.

Just take a look at how many years it takes before the hydrogen sulfide gas generation peaks after the disposal takes place:

Look at how many years it takes for hydrogen sulfide gas generation to peak (y axis units are in cubic feet of hydrogen sulfide gas)

Where is Roxbury’s Fenimore landfill on that curve?

Ask DEP to apply the model developed in the paper and find out!

Fenimore landfill, before new DEP disposal scheme (10/15/11)