Examining the Effects of Covered Landfills on Gas Emissions in Parc Baldwin, Montreal

Abstract

Background: Within recent years, parks built on top of former landfills have come under scrutiny for their effectiveness at mitigating the effects of the landfill underneath. The purpose of this study is to identify the biogas emissions of converted landfills nearly a century after landfill closure.

Methods: Soil and air emissions for methane and carbon dioxide were collected at 112 sites within the North and South portions of Parc Baldwin in Montreal, Quebec, as well as the presumed boundaries of the former landfill.

Results: Overall, it was found that South Baldwin and the immediate area (previously a landfill) had a higher mean average methane concentration, as well as a greater number of sites with methane present than North Baldwin. Particular raised areas in South Baldwin showed anomalously high carbon dioxide concentrations. There was a large degree of heterogeneity between emissions at different sites.

Limitations: The Eagle 2 machine is limited to measuring only up to 5,000 ppm or 0.5% volume. Another difficulty with the variation in collection of the data is the differences in collection dates.

Conclusions: Ultimately, while South Baldwin did have higher CO2 and methane emissions compared to its counterpart, it is inconclusive whether or not this phenomenon is related to the landfill or other factors. Gas concentrations were significantly below the lower explosive limit in both parks.