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The Dallas Morning News 1/24/03
By: Dave Levinthal - Arlington Bureau
ARLINGTON - A methane-recovery project recently
installed at the city's landfill will
save tax-payers millions of dollars and help combat regional
air pollution, city officials
said Thursday. A methane pumping station at the landfill is
unique to Texas because
Arlington and Fort Worth, along with the private Midland-based
Renovar Energy
Corp., pooled million of dollars in the last four years to
create it, said Trey
Yelverton, Arlington's director of neighborhood services.
"They say not to let your car
idle for long to help keep air pollution down," he said. "So
we're not going to leave
our methane flare on long."
Gone are the flaming jets of methane gas
from atop the landfill on Arlington's north
side, replaced by pumps and underground pipes that transport
the greenhouse gas
to a wastewater treatment plant in Fort Worth. There, the
plant burns it for electricity.
Methane is a noxious but natural byproduct of garbage decomposition.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency
requires that landfills capture and burn
it, as most do, or find a alternate method of disposal. Dozens
of feeder wells bored
deep into the landfill grounds collect the methane. the central
machinery helps turn
the gas into energy said Lawrence Gilbert, president of Renovar.
Renovar's
investment is $3 million. Arlington will save almost $3 million
during the next 20
years since it didn't have to front money for the pumping
technology, Mr. Yelverton
estimated.
Energy and wastewater customers may also
see a reduction in their bills, said Robert T.
McMillon, assistant director at Fort Worth's water department.
The Fort Worth
wastewater plant, which also serves most municipalities in
Tarrant County, will use
the Arlington methane to generate almost all of the seven
megawatts of energy it
uses daily.
Arlington
Star -Telegram 1/24/03
The Dallas Morning
News 1/24/03
Permian Basin
Oil & Gas Report 1/26/03
Arlington Star-Telegram
2/5/03
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