This past February, Texas had one of its worst February in history with snow covering the state and crippling power outages. It’s hard to imagine, but after a tough February, Texas is blooming again!
Our SnifferDRONE can attest to the Texan blooms as shown in the image taken at this week’s work site.
This investor owned NSPS WWW site is battling ongoing landfill odors that are affecting neighbors and thus its community standing. The site owner hired our team to provide a comprehensive methane emissions assessment of the site. While odorless, methane (CH4) is harmful to our environment. It is also a gas that can be easier to detect than other landfill odor causing gases. So, identifying methane leaks helps site owners improve their environmental record while helping identify potential odor causing leaks in their landfill cover system.
Our Landfill Cover Integrity Assessment (LCIA) at this site consisted of a full surface emissions scan with the SnifferDRONE, manual cover penetration inspection, with raw data, images and a comprehensive analytical report. Over the 170 acre area, more than 100 methane leaks were identified (30+ surface, 70+ penetrations). Methane concentration levels were recorded as high as 50%.
The gas collection system at this site and its maintenance including emissions monitoring, is managed by third parties. Therefore, the data we collected and analytics we presented established a new baseline to reset and calibrate the site condition among all parties. The analytics also provided details to help the parties prioritize work based on the greatest need, for the greatest impact.
The site manager was cautious about the use of data to help more clearly identify issues, but as he said, "we gotta know, otherwise, we can’t solve the problem”. Other feedback we received from the customer included "this is a game changer" and "now we know". After our work, the customer has a complete view of the site condition and is on a path for improvement. The information we provided also prepares them for upcoming, and more stringent NSPS regulations that will be enacted soon.
After site remediation, a return trip is planned to measure progress.
We are grateful to have the opportunity to show them what we can do, and for their feedback.
Need to reset expectations? Our Landfill Cover Integrity Assessment (LCIA) is a great place to start.
The Sniffer team works throughout the nation and provides accurate, comprehensive, and actionable information for those who "gotta know".
Contact us to learn more.