"In the Inland Empire, several fires have broken out on the surface of another landfill. In the San Fernando Valley, an elementary school has occasionally canceled recess due to toxic gases emanating from rain-soaked, rotting garbage from a nearby landfill. And, in the San Francisco Bay Area, burrowing rodents may be digging into entombed trash at a landfill-turned-park, unloosing explosive levels of methane."
"Landfill emissions - produced by decaying food, paper and other organic waste - are a major source of planet-warming greenhouse gases and harmful air pollution statewide. But mismanagement, aging equipment and inadequate oversight have worsened this pollution in recent years, according to environmental regulators and policy experts. This week, the California Air Resources Board will vote on adopting a new slate of requirements to better identify and more quickly respond to methane leaks and disastrous underground fires at large landfills statewide."
Smoldering underground fires and surface blazes at multiple California landfills have released toxic fumes, produced geysers of liquid waste, canceled school recesses, and created explosive methane hazards. Landfill emissions from decaying food, paper and other organic waste are a major source of greenhouse gases and harmful air pollution across the state. Mismanagement, aging equipment and inadequate oversight have worsened these pollution problems in recent years. New regulatory proposals would require faster identification and response to methane leaks and subsurface fires at large landfills. The proposal emphasizes satellites, drones and other technologies and mandates corrective action within days of detection.
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