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Municipal Solid Waste officials report methane levels at Merrill Field; mayor signs emergency procurement for gas-collection repairs
Summary
Solid Waste Services told the Anchorage Assembly a failing landfill-gas collection system at the historic Merrill Field landfill exceeded lower explosive limits in some tenant buildings, ADEC has required a remediation timeline and the mayor signed an emergency procurement to repair and replace the system.
Solid Waste Services (SWS) told the Anchorage Assembly that the historic municipal landfill beneath Merrill Field is producing landfill gas at concentrations that have exceeded lower explosive limits in some tenant buildings, prompting an Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) enforcement timeline and an urgent procurement to repair gas collection infrastructure.
“On 03/11/2025, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation required a timeline for remediation,” SWS staff reported, and staff said ADEC later cited the situation as a potential violation of AS 60.805 if left unaddressed.
Nut graf: SWS told the assembly the landfill dates to the 1940s, was closed in the 1980s, and a passive gas system was installed in the 1990s; recent winter storm power surges and aging, crushed pipes have rendered the existing gas-collection control system beyond repair and created an immediate health-and-safety urgency.
SWS said monitors placed inside buildings showed methane at levels that exceeded lower explosive limits in some locations; staff advised tenants to ventilate enclosed spaces and installed monitors for affected tenants. The department described structural impacts caused when areas were dynamically compacted before asphalt was placed and said some buried infrastructure is obsolete or crushed.
The mayor signed an emergency procurement order “yesterday,” SWS said, invoking health-and-safety and time-sensitive procurement justifications so construction can proceed this season and the municipality will not miss a critical construction window. As part of the procurement, SWS intends to proceed with SBS Engineers, which the department described as a longstanding contractor on monitoring and landfill-gas work with design-build capabilities.
SWS displayed a two-phase map showing a phase‑1 line replacement behind tenant buildings where monitors recorded high methane and a phase‑2 extension that would relieve pressure in a larger area of the old landfill. SWS emphasized efforts to minimize impacts to Merrill Field tenants and airport operations and said it will coordinate closely with the airport director as construction is scheduled.
SWS also provided related context: Merrill Field opened as a municipal landfill in the 1940s, closed in the 1980s, and a passive gas system was installed in the 1990s; SWS has continued routine monitoring and fence installation. SWS said it has previously drilled test wells and probes to gather data and will address leachate and other aging infrastructure issues on a separate but near-term track.
Ending: Assembly members pressed for confidence about tenant safety; SWS said monitors remain in place and tenants know to ventilate or vacate if alarms show unsafe methane levels. SWS committed to reporting back with the procurement schedule and stated phasing for the repair work.
