City to Weigh Plan to Recycle Landfill Gas

The Glendale City Council this week scheduled a May 14 study session to consider a proposal to build an $8.7-million waste-to-energy system that will transport gas produced from decomposing trash at the Scholl Canyon Landfill to the city’s power plant.

The innovative system is expected to save the city as much as $2.4 million a year, provide electricity for up to 30,000 Glendale residents and prevent more than 30 tons of emissions from dissipating into the atmosphere, officials said.

The council will consider a proposal by Glendale’s Public Works Department and the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, operator of the landfill, to jointly build and run the system.

Four private companies also have submitted proposals.

Methane gas, produced by decomposition of rotting debris, now is captured and burned off at the Scholl landfill, a 410-acre site in two canyons in Glendale, said Kerry Morford, Glendale’s assistant director of public works.

Under the proposed new system, a pipeline will transport the gas from the landfill to the city’s Grayson Power Plant, about seven miles away at 800 Air Way.

The methane then will be blended with the natural gas supply to power the plant and produce electricity for about half of Glendale’s 70,000 utility customers, Morford said.

Burning landfill gas will produce about half the noxious emissions caused by burning natural gas, he said.

The pipeline will run below Glenoaks Boulevard to the Verdugo Wash, then above ground along the Verdugo Wash to the power plant.

Construction of the pipeline and a pretreatment station at the landfill is expected to take 18 months.

City officials said they plan to meet with homeowner groups and mail special newsletters to residents in the area to notify them of the pipeline construction and solicit comments.