Agenda - Council - 10/14/1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-14- Collected landfill gases, which have a strong putrid odor, were vented through a low stack at gound level about 175 feet behind the Van Wagner residence until September 15, 1980 when the exhaust stack was moved to a location on top of the landfill. Residents have reported headaches and nausea as a result of exposure to the gases, and are undergoing medical testing to evaluate their health status. Some of these complaints about odor and reported symptoms are included in Appendix G. Sensitive individuals could develop headaches, nausea, dizziness, or listlessness-from smelling the odor which may be d~e to low molecular weight volatile fatty acids. Other chemical components' that could cause odor problems include hydrogen sulfide, mercaptans, esters,.or-aldehydes. Further gas chromato, graphic analysis on concentrated samples is required to identify~' the odor-causing component. Since residents are experiencing symptoms attributed to the odor, the odor problem should be eliminated as soon as possible. An immediate short-term solution would be to operate the venting system intermittently; that. is,_ discontinue pumping_ during periods when meteorology favors the plume blowing~toward the residences. The build-up .of gases in-the soil could_be closely monitored by Waste Management and/or the~County to pre- vent any possibility of gas migration into the .residences. More permanent solutions include flaring the gases or mov- ing the emission point to another location away from the residences. The feasibility of these or other permanent mitigative measures are being considered by Waste Management of Minnesota, Inc., (Appendix F).