New Carbon proposes landfill gas-to-pipeline project at Hastings municipal landfill

Brian Lammers, a representative of New Carbon, told the Hastings City Council the company proposes to build and operate a landfill gas collection and biogas upgrading facility adjacent to the City of Hastings municipal landfill. "New Carbon is a Midwest based company. We're based in Chicago, Illinois. I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota," Lammers said.

Lammers described the project as a system of horizontal and vertical gas wells on the landfill, a membrane-based upgrading facility north of the landfill along Southern Hills Road, and a lateral interconnection to the Tallgrass pipeline about 1.5 miles northwest of the site. He said the company expects to complete permitting and detailed engineering in 2026, begin construction in late 2027 and bring the project into commercial operation in 2029. "We'll be producing about a 5,000 MMMBtu of gas per year," Lammers said, adding that amount is roughly the annual gas consumption of about 2,000 homes.

Marty (city staff member) said New Carbon and the city are negotiating a feedstock and site-use agreement. Lammers said New Carbon will own and finance the gas collection, upgrading and interconnection work. He described standard safety elements to be included in the design, including an emergency flare and compliance with state permitting. "We'll have an emergency flare that will be part of the design...we'll have to permit the project through the state, Department of Energy and Environment," he said.

Council members and members of the public asked technical and siting questions during the presentation and Q&A. Lammers confirmed gas yields should increase over time as the landfill accumulates more waste, with an estimated long-term growth rate of about 2–3% per year based on the city's waste-in-place. He said older landfill cells to the north and south are producing little gas and are not currently good candidates for recovery; the city also discussed remediation work for a South Landfill area that has had TCE concerns and an ongoing soil-cap enhancement program (referred to in the meeting as FidoCap) intended to restore carbon in the cap and balance contaminant considerations.

City representatives said the site location north of the active cell, nearer Southern Hills Road, was chosen after considering reuse of an existing landfill cell and airspace implications. Lammers said New Carbon has been active across the Upper Midwest and currently has projects and prospects in Illinois, Minnesota and North Dakota but in Nebraska is only pursuing Hastings at this time.

The presentation emphasized potential community benefits including methane emissions reduction and local odor mitigation; the company said the primary market plan is to inject upgraded gas into the interstate pipeline rather than sell directly to the city, although future downstream uses (for example, at the city's pollution control facility) were discussed as possibilities. Lammers said New Carbon anticipates negotiating a royalty or lease payment to the city as part of the financial terms. The company estimated the operating life of the upgrading project at roughly 20–25 years and said agreements with the city and downstream customers would likely cover a similar term.

No formal council vote on the project was taken at this meeting. Council members expressed general interest and questioned next steps, permitting and how the city might participate in the economics of the project, while staff said more detailed agreements and permits will be developed before any binding action by the council.