Bioreaction Will Help Tucson's Landfill Situation

Date: February 14, 2002

Source: News Room

Forcing air and water into the heart of three landfills at the base of "A" Mountain in Tucson will speed their decomposition from about 150 years to three years, a city experiment indicates. The technique will provide stable ground for projects in a neighborhood revitalization project. Natural decomposition is not an option because it could yield explosive levels of methane gas under new buildings. Another alternative would be to dig up the landfills and carry off the 1.7 million cubic yards of trash, but that would cost more than $50 million. Rio Nuevo plans set aside $2.3 million for the landfill stabilization project. The landfills occupy 50 acres and are up to 40 feet deep and contain garbage dating to the early 20th century. The city pilot project pumped air and water into a 50-by-50-foot parcel of the Nearmont landfill from July 24 to Dec. 20. Under normal conditions, a landfill will settle about 1 inch per year. With this technique, city officials recorded an average settlement of 10 inches in just 82 days.

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