Waste Management to convert landfill methane to electricity

By John Porretto
The Associated Press

HOUSTON, TX - Waste Management Inc., the nation's largest garbage hauler and landfill operator, plans to spend roughly $400 million over the next five years building facilities at 60 landfills, including some in Illinois, to convert methane gas to electricity.

It is Waste Management's most ambitious renewable energy project to date.

Landfills are the largest source of methane emissions in the United States, accounting for 34 percent of such releases, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Methane is the second-biggest man-made contributor to global warming behind carbon dioxide....Read more.

EPA seeks residents’ feedback on grants

By Bob Downing
The Akron Beacon Journal

COLUMBUS - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency will accept comments through Saturday on a fund established in connection with fires and odors at a southern Stark County landfill.

Residents near the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility in Pike Township can submit their comments on criteria the agency should consider in awarding grants from the $250,000 Community Benefit Project Fund.

Republic Waste Services, the company that owns and operates the 258-acre landfill, was ordered in a March 28 agreement with the EPA to pay a $1 million fine, of which $250,000 would benefit communities in southern Stark and northern Tuscarawas counties....Read more.