If you drive past the Chemung County Landfill in Lowman, you might have noticed a shiny new facility on one portion of the landfill property.
On Thursday, May 14 officials from several cooperating partners cut the ribbon on the new facility and unveiled its purpose — to capture methane and other waste gases produced by the landfill and convert them to renewable natural gas.
On hand for the ceremony were officials from Waga Energy, which developed the process to transform landfill gases to usable energy, Chemung County, which owns the landfill, Casella Waste Systems, which manages the landfill for the county, and Valley Energy, which provides natural gas to several communities in Chemung and Tioga counties.
“The Chemung County landfill behind us is spontaneously producing landfill gas, and landfill gas is made of about half methane and then volatile organic compounds and air gases,” said Waga Energy President Tanguy Largeau. “And so our process here is recovering the landfill gas and then purifying so that we are producing pure methane that can then be injected in the Valley Energy natural gas pipeline and then be displacing fossil natural gas.”
In addition to providing a readily available and viable natural gas alternative, officials believe the system will greatly reduce the release of harmful emissions into the atmosphere.
“This has been a great partnership. We work hard to find ways to do more recycling,” said Casella CEO Edmond “Ned” Coletta. “The community has something of lasting value.”
The project was two years in development and is expected to recycle landfill gases into renewable natural gas for at least the next 20 years, Waga officials said.
Chemung County Executive Christopher Moss said the county has had a strong partnership with Casella for more than 20 years, and while he was initially skeptical when Casella approached the county with the Waga renewable natural gas proposal, he now recognizes its value.
“What we thought was a pipe dream is now just a pipe, carrying this product four miles down the road,” Moss said.
Valley Energy, which provides natural gas to parts of the Town of Chemung and the Waverly area, in addition to several communities in Bradford County, is excited to be a part of the renewable natural gas project, according to CEO Edward Rogers.
“It means safe energy for all our customers,” Rogers said. “This project really encompasses our mission.”
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: New project at Chemung County landfill is converting waste to fuel
Reporting by Jeff Murray, Elmira Star-Gazette / Elmira Star-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
