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Cowlitz County approves $1.49 million expansion of landfill gas collection system
Summary
The Board of Cowlitz County Commissioners awarded a $1.49 million bid to install 20 vertical gas wells and roughly 18,000 feet of piping at the county landfill, a project officials said is required to maintain environmental compliance and improve long-term gas collection.
The Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners voted to award a $1,490,001.76 contract to Glacier Environmental Services for expansion of the county’s headquarters landfill gas collection and control system.
County public works staff said the project will install 20 vertical wells with an average depth of about 110 feet and roughly 18,000 feet of linear piping. Sean Roehrige, Public Works, told commissioners the vertical system is “the industry standard for long-term gas collection” and said vertical wells tend to be more consistent and easier to manage than older horizontal wells.
Roehrige said the deepest well for this contract would be about 150 feet and that several wells will include leachate pumps near their bottoms. “The entire landfill is under a vacuum at all times to extract the gas,” he said. He also said extracted gas is sent to the county’s flares and burned off currently.
Commissioners and staff discussed the potential for future uses of the gas, noting prior conversations with the local public utility district about converting landfill gas to electricity. Roehrige said the improved well design would provide a steadier gas quality and a broader radius of influence, which could make a future generator or renewable natural gas system easier to manage.
Public and commissioner questions addressed monitoring and operations. Staff said this contract covers only installation; landfill staff will perform monthly (or more frequent) monitoring and well tuning and route gas to two existing flares. Roehrige said the county currently extracts about 1,000 cubic feet per minute (CFM) at the site and that Tenant Way, a smaller closed site, is extracting roughly 300 CFM and may need a smaller flare in the near term.
Commissioner questions noted cost and compliance drivers. Commissioner Ron Farrell asked whether these vertical wells would be easier to transition to a power-generation system; Roehrige replied yes, because of more consistent gas quality. County staff emphasized that the wells are required to maintain compliance with Washington Department of Ecology rules during landfill post-closure and ongoing operation.
The board moved and approved the bid award. Commissioners said the project is intended to maintain regulatory compliance and to preserve future options for energy recovery, though staff said capturing and selling gas remains contingent on arranging a buyer or utility partnership.
