Problem Memo on Increasing Landfill Gas Difusion

Problem Memo on Increasing Landfill Gas Difusion

PROBLEM MEMORANDUM   To: Prof. Dr. Veysel Eroglu, Republic of Turkey Minister of Environment and Forestry From: Burcu Polat Bora Re: Increasing Landfill Gas Diffusion in Turkey Date: September 9, 2014 Increasing Landfill Gas Diffusion in Turkey An environmental problem has been affecting adversely the daily life of inhabitants residing mostly in metropolitan regions of Turkey where there is a rapid population growth. While fulfilling duties in collecting and transporting is managed by the municipalities well, the required level of activity and attention in disposal and recycling is inadequate. (Waste Management, 2010-11)   Waste management operation is conducted on a short-term basis, hinged on an unsustainable solution where most of the waste is sorted on site, gets transported to the closest transfer stations and driven to unsanitary landfill sites. Disorganizedly waste’s storage causes water and groundwater contamination, insect swarming, spread of objectionable odor, visual pollution and increase of germ-carriers through animals. (Boz, 2007) In addition to all these negative impacts of the waste situated in landfill sites; another harmful output is landfill gas which is generated during the natural process of bacterial decomposition of organic material contained in solid waste landfills. Landfill gas is about 40-60% methane,which is 21 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. Methane is “a short-lived climate pollutant with significant warming potential”, which “…over a 20 year period, one ton of it (methane) causes 72 times more warming than one ton of carbon dioxide” (Direct Global Warming Potentials, 2007).   Methane gas and carbon dioxide are the major outputs of landfill waste. If landfill gas is collected in an enclosed space, it poses an asphyxiation hazard at concentrations high enough to create an oxygen-deficient environment. Oxygen-deficient environment is defined as less than 19.5% oxygen by volume by The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Normal conditions are those where 21% oxygen is contained in ambient air by volume. Health effects engaged with oxygen-deficient environments are displayed in the below table.  

Health Effects from Oxygen-deficient Environments
Oxygen Concentration	Health Effects
21%	Normal ambient air oxygen concentration
17%	Deteriorated night vision (not noticeable until a normal oxygen concentration is restored), increased breathing volume, and accelerated heartbeat
14% to 16%	Increased breathing volume, accelerated heartbeat, very poor muscular coordination, rapid fatigue, and intermittent respiration
6% to 10%	Nausea, vomiting, inability to perform, and unconsciousness
Less than 6%	Spasmatic breathing, convulsive movements, and death in minutes
Source: OSHA n.d.b

    The adverse impacts of landfill gas diffusion are not only continuous heath related issues, but also accidents due to explosion of methane gas or movement of solid mass, which causes death in some cases. We already have had several accidents that occurred as a consequence of not being able to contain the methane gas in the past. For instance in one of the metropolitan cities of Turkey, Istanbul, which is one of the most populated, two incidents unveiled the need for pressing precautions at landfill waste sites. In April of 1995 methane gas explosion cost several lives at the Umraniye dump. In the following year at another open dump, Kemerburgaz solid waste slid down on to the road nearby, which imposed financial burden to the county. (Sustainable Solid Waste Management in the Southern Black Sea Region, 1999) In order to avoid such circumstances legislations have been reviewed by the authorized bodies and fundamentally have focused on achieving waste recovery. In year 2003 a licensing process was developed for private businesses to separate and recycle waste, however the greater part of the waste is still dumped in landfill sites, which are located very close to the residential areas. Even today, in year 2014 same problems have been occurring in different cities of the country. In August 2014, fire broke out and affected nearby towns because of methane gas compression at the Finike open dumpsite. (Finike’de Metan Gazi Patlamasi, 2014) If action is not taken immediately to stop particularly methane diffusion due to open dumps in different locations, the consequences may escalate in a way that it will be too late to fix.   I appreciate your attention to this concern and I offer my support to you and your staff to find a prompt solution to the ongoing issue influencing the environment.