Will County Looks to possibility of bioreactor
Proposal could be extending its life and making money

Officials are hoping to tap into the hidden potential of landfills buried somewhere below the tangles of rotting trash, empty bottles, and construction debris in the future.

In fast-growing Will County concerns about the volume of trash being dumped in its 4 year-old Prairie View landfill are on the rise. Officials are discussing ways to extend the life of the dump and the prospects of harnessing methane gas-- a naturally occurring byproduct of trash decomposition -- that might one day be used to power entire neighborhoods.

Two other Illinois landfills are experimenting with a similar technique of using liquid waste to generate more methane gas and speed up the breakdown of trash. At least five landfills are awaiting state permits to do the same.

According to Dale Hoekstra, the Director of Operations at Waste Management, "It's a very complex system. It takes a design and application to the Illinois EPA and a permit from the state."

Here and across the nation, people are thinking about ways to make the most of what we throw away. "We're providing a necessary service for the residents in Will County," Hoekstra said. In the process, landfills have undergone makeovers from scoffed dumps on the border of town to clean-burning, renewable energy.

The nation's largest landfill operator, Waste Management Inc., which runs the Will County site, pledged last June to spend nearly $400 million over five years to convert methane gas to electricity. The process has already proven successful in states like California and Florida.

Much of the optimism centers on a method of introducing liquid into garbage dumps that are designed to stay dry. These landfills, called bioreactors, use liquids such as sewage, sludge and storm water to accelerate the decomposition of garbage. The bioreactor process is not yet approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In some cases, that could extend the life of a landfill by 20 years, according to bioreactor.org. That kind of research is upsetting the interest of waste officials across the country, particularly in Will County, which has grown by more than 30 percent since 2000.

Officials with will's waste services manager, say the county and Waste Management have talked about the possibility of converting Prairie View to a bioreactor. But it's far off at best.

"We [Will County officials] has discussed it with Waste Management. We're not at that point. Maybe 10-15 years down the road. This landfill has a very long life. Maybe it's something applicable down the road." Will County Board majority leader Wayne McMillan said.

They've also talked about a public-private partnership to build an on-site power plant that could generate electricity from methane gas

"Methane gas, which is a great alternate energy source, is great for the county. Especially with the energy crunch we're in. This will provide an alternative energy source from a landfill-a great place for residents in the county to bring their trash.," Hoekstra said.

Though there are no bioreactors yet in Illinois, landfills in Peoria and Whiteside County have received permits to use a similar method. This process involves injecting "leachate," the watery byproduct of garbage decomposition, back into the landfill.

As with bioreactors, leachate recirculation concerns some scientists who wonder about the long-term risks of this toxic liquid waste leaking in the groundwater. Others worry about air pollution and odor, not to mention the risk of fire from increased methane gas production. And they say introducing liquids, waste or otherwise, into a dry environment could destabilize the landfills.

The Prairie View landfill opened in January 2004 on a former military arsenal site in southwestern Will County, about 10 miles from Joliet. In the meantime, county officials have closely monitored the steady increase of garbage arriving at the facility each year. Officials said the amount of trash was far exceeding projections, reaching 868,300 tons deposited in 2007.

Those numbers have led officials to recalculate the life expectancy of the landfill, which was initially set for closure in 2027. New estimates have the landfill reaching capacity far sooner.

That's unless officials are allowed to pursue new technologies.

NCTV17's Jenny Barger reports.