The Clean Air Act was passed in 1990 to provide the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with rules and regulations to help reduce air pollution. Methane is one of the gases regulated by EPA and sources of methane include landfills, wetlands, and the intestinal tracts of cattle, sheep and termites.
Methane is produced when anaerobic bacteria break down dead organic matter in moist places that lack oxygen, such as a covered landfill cell.
The North Montgomery Sanitary Landfill operating permit requires methane monitoring on the surface with the use of a Flame Ionization Detector, and underground methane monitoring through the use of a Eagle Gas Detetor.
The Flame Ionization Detector samples methane gas above the surface of the landfill with the use of hydrogen gas. Environmental Technicians walk in a predetermined grid pattern on the landfill surface and take sample readings every 30 meters. If a sample reading triggers an alarm, then the technician documents the location. After being informed of the problem and its location, the Landfill Supervisor has ten days to cover the area and take sample readings again. If the readings are still high (over 500 parts per million) after three samples in a specific area, then a passive gas system is put in place to pump the methane gas out of the landfill. The methane that is extracted from the landfill in then sent to Jenkins Brick Company for their manufacturing process.