Normal maintenance activities and updated record keeping have been the primary focus at the Bristol Quarry Landfill this week. Crews continue to frequently evaluate landfill systems making minor adjustments to ensure efficient operation of the gas wells and Sidewall Odor Mitigation System (SOMS). These evaluations include regular monitoring of the blower, flare, and wellfield, and breaking down, cleaning, and rebuilding pumps.
Our engineers and staff have also worked diligently to determine the cause of what has now been identified as two small sub-surface reactions (SSR), which occurred at the end of April and in the middle of July at separate locations within the Quarry Landfill. In each incident, the SSR was quickly contained and suppressed so they could not matriculate to other areas of the landfill.
Subsequently, City officials and consulting engineers concluded both SSRs were the result of separate and distinct line breaks: the first SSR occurred in the SOMS and the second SSR occurred in the leachate collection system. During each occurrence, landfill personnel isolated the systems in the vicinity of the SSR, turned off the lines to prevent further oxygen intrusion into the landfill, and utilized soil to further assist in eliminating the reactions at the line breaks.
Landfill personnel were able to repair the line breaks and returned the affected systems back to operating efficiency. Constant monitoring of landfill temperatures and system performance will persist as we systematically monitor and evaluate conditions to proceed with the closing process.