Most people are surprised their first time out here,” “Sloan says. “There’s a lot more to it than just putting garbage in a hole.
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“We knew at some point we would have to install a reclaiming system, so even though we weren’t putting out as many emissions as we are allowed, we decided to go ahead and install the flare,” Sloan said. “After only three months, we were looking at the flare saying, ‘That’s a shame. That’s a fuel source up there and we’re just burning it off.’ “That’s when we discovered the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Generation Partners Program, which pays a premium for green power. We realized with a little investment we could get a pretty nice return.” The board of directors approved a $3 million project to install a power generation system that processes landfill gas, which is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide, and converts it into electricity that goes directly to the power grid. “It took about 14 months for us to design the system, bid the project, purchase the equipment and get it operational,” Sloan said. “During that time, that is what I did, all day, every day. It was really important for us to develop the project ourselves, rather than turn it over to an outside company, so we could stay in control. We got to decide what type of equipment was added to our operations and all of the revenue that is generated comes back to our facility.”
450 tons of trash a day from the six counties it serves. Only about 35 percent of the facility’s land will ever be available for dumping. The rest is set aside for roads, storm water retention ponds, workshops, offices, and a 250-foot wide buffer that separates the landfill from its neighbors. “Our day to day operations are like a really big construction project. It’s a highly regulated business in terms of managing the effect all this garbage will have on the environment,” Sloan explained. “We try to be proactive to make sure we are as environmentally-friendly as possible.” For Sloan, being proactive means staying ahead of federal requirements and addressing environmental issues as the technology becomes available. That’s why in 2009, well before his facility would have been required to, he oversaw the instillation of a landfill gas reclaiming system that uses wells to draw the gasses out so they can be burned off through a flare.
The generation system currently averages $85,000 a month in revenue, which has offset rising costs and allowed the Golden Triangle landfill to avoid raising its customers’ prices. The energy produced is enough to continuously power 600 homes. Those figures exceed the project’s initial estimates because the landfill gas is richer, and therefore produces more energy, than what is emitted from other garbage dumps-–an unforeseen benefit that no one can explain. “I guess we have better bugs,” Sloan said with a laugh. “Really, no one is sure why our landfill gas is richer, but we think it might have to do with the materials we use at our facility.” Sloan explained that small landfills operate by filling available space one cell at a time. At the Golden Triangle facility, a cell is 1,000 feet long, 400 feet wide and 50 feet deep. The dirt that is removed from these pits provides the materials necessary to finish their construction. Clay is used to create a 24-inch watertight layer on the bottom, sides and eventually the top, of the cell. Selma chalk, a type of limestone, is used daily to cover the trash in active cells. And topsoil is reserved to cap cells that are full. Sloan said that bagley.msstate.edu/momentum
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