Phu Tab Boek landfill to be closed permanently

[webfact]

Phu Tab Boek landfill to be closed permanently



PETCHABUN: -- A landfill at Phu Tab Boek in Petchabun’s Lomsak district will be permanently closed after some 40 resort operators at the popular mountain resort agreed to dispose their garbages at another landfill on the foot of the mountain.

The Wang Barn tambon administration organization has mobilized 20 trucks to remove garbages from a landfill in Ban Tub Boek to a landfill operated by Lomsak municipal.

Mr Somboon Sritham, president of Wang Barn TAO, said Thursday that that the garbages from Phu Tap Boek would be temporarily deposited at the landfill in Lomsak district pending the construction of an incinerator which will use garbages as fuel to generate power for a cement factory.

Through this way, the garbage problem at Phu Tak Boek will be greatly eased, said Mr Somboon.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/phu-tab-boek-landfill-to-be-closed-permanently

-- Thai PBS 2015-11-13

[eliotness]

It looks like the garbage is saturated with water, so it's not going to burn very well. Furthermore how is it going to be temporally stored ? Obvious problem with flies, rats and other vermin.

Garbage for power generation needs to be sorted first for recycling, composting etc. I've never heard before of anyone digging up a dump (I would use the term "landfill" but I suspect it's no where near international standards) to use as fuel, but I will stand to be corrected if someone has knowledge of it working well. I should also imagine the exhaust gases from burning that waste will be pretty foul and will require 1st world scrubbers, not liable to happen is it ?

[stoneyboy]

It looks like the garbage is saturated with water, so it's not going to burn very well. Furthermore how is it going to be temporally stored ? Obvious problem with flies, rats and other vermin.

Garbage for power generation needs to be sorted first for recycling, composting etc. I've never heard before of anyone digging up a dump (I would use the term "landfill" but I suspect it's no where near international standards) to use as fuel, but I will stand to be corrected if someone has knowledge of it working well. I should also imagine the exhaust gases from burning that waste will be pretty foul and will require 1st world scrubbers, not liable to happen is it ?

If you read the post they are at this time simply moving the waste from its current position to the Lom Sak facility which is about 30 clicks away,as far as I know the incinerator isn't even built yet as they state above.

I doubt it will ever get built.

I live in Lom Sak.

Edited November 13, 2015 by stoneyboy

[eliotness]

It looks like the garbage is saturated with water, so it's not going to burn very well. Furthermore how is it going to be temporally stored ? Obvious problem with flies, rats and other vermin.

Garbage for power generation needs to be sorted first for recycling, composting etc. I've never heard before of anyone digging up a dump (I would use the term "landfill" but I suspect it's no where near international standards) to use as fuel, but I will stand to be corrected if someone has knowledge of it working well. I should also imagine the exhaust gases from burning that waste will be pretty foul and will require 1st world scrubbers, not liable to happen is it ?

If you read the post they are at this time simply moving the waste from its current position to the Lom Sak facility which is about 30 clicks away,as far as I know the incinerator isn't even built yet as they state above.

I doubt it will ever get built.

I live in Lom Sak.

Then it looks like the storage will be long-term if not permanent. That raises the questions, is the "landfill" at Lom Sak lined ? What machinery do they use on site, eg compactors, dozers, front-end loaders, tipper trucks for cover material ? What is the compaction ratio achieved ? Is the landfill gas managed or just allowed to vent into the atmosphere ?

If there is no lining then there will eventually be a rather nasty effect on the groundwater. I'm guessing, but I bet they don't have leachate treatment.

Maybe time to leave Lom Sak

[lujanit]

A byproduct of landfill degradation is methane which is easily collected, stored and then can be used for power generation. There is no need for a high temperature incinerator unless space is a critical factor (e.g., Singapore). Methane can be collected also from animal waste, pig waste is a particularly good source.

Land fill sites not properly constructed with liners will allow leach water to contaminate the underlying soil and perhaps the groundwater. This is not good. If leach water can be collected treatment is not a simple matter, it is expensive and I doubt Thai's want to spend that sort of money. Having said that I worked with a Thai in Indonesia who was an expert in collecting methane. This was on a large pig farm. So the expertise is here. (pig farm in a muslim country! The market was totally for Singapore and the locals were grateful for the work).

As a side note an operator can be granted carbon credits by the UN if he collects methane and burns it. The end products are heat and carbon dioxide. Why grant carbon credits when you are emitting CO2? Methane is far more toxic to the atmosphere than CO2.

[eliotness]

Collecting landfill gas is only simple if the landfill is designed with that in mind from day one. To retro-fit gas collection is not easy and can be a bit hit & miss. Landfill gas contains many toxic chemicals as well as methane and before burning it is wise to remove the condensate, which can be very foul smelling and extremely corrosive. If you attempt to burn untreated landfill gas then your burners will soon rot.

Agreed, liquified animal waste (including human) is easily stored and methane collected from anaerobic digestion, which kills most of the harmful organisms in the liquid waste. The equipment for this can literally be bought off the shelf and any scrubbing liquor can be returned to the digestion tank. This should be standard practice throughout Thailand, especially the medium and large pig farms. The digested solid/liquid is then a good fertilizer with a much reduced smell than the raw pooh.

Landfill gas is a very very different matter.

[eliotness]

Collecting landfill gas is only simple if the landfill is designed with that in mind from day one. To retro-fit gas collection is not easy and can be a bit hit & miss. Landfill gas contains many toxic chemicals as well as methane and before burning it is wise to remove the condensate, which can be very foul smelling and extremely corrosive. If you attempt to burn untreated landfill gas then your burners will soon rot.

Agreed, liquified animal waste (including human) is easily stored and methane collected from anaerobic digestion, which kills most of the harmful organisms in the liquid waste. The equipment for this can literally be bought off the shelf and any scrubbing liquor can be returned to the digestion tank. This should be standard practice throughout Thailand, especially the medium and large pig farms. The digested solid/liquid is then a good fertilizer with a much reduced smell than the raw

Edited November 13, 2015 by eliotness

[stoneyboy]

It looks like the garbage is saturated with water, so it's not going to burn very well. Furthermore how is it going to be temporally stored ? Obvious problem with flies, rats and other vermin.

Garbage for power generation needs to be sorted first for recycling, composting etc. I've never heard before of anyone digging up a dump (I would use the term "landfill" but I suspect it's no where near international standards) to use as fuel, but I will stand to be corrected if someone has knowledge of it working well. I should also imagine the exhaust gases from burning that waste will be pretty foul and will require 1st world scrubbers, not liable to happen is it ?

If you read the post they are at this time simply moving the waste from its current position to the Lom Sak facility which is about 30 clicks away,as far as I know the incinerator isn't even built yet as they state above.

I doubt it will ever get built.

I live in Lom Sak.

Then it looks like the storage will be long-term if not permanent. That raises the questions, is the "landfill" at Lom Sak lined ? What machinery do they use on site, eg compactors, dozers, front-end loaders, tipper trucks for cover material ? What is the compaction ratio achieved ? Is the landfill gas managed or just allowed to vent into the atmosphere ?

If there is no lining then there will eventually be a rather nasty effect on the groundwater. I'm guessing, but I bet they don't have leachate treatment.

Maybe time to leave Lom Sak

Time to leave Lom Sak.

I can only imagine these issues are a nationwide problem.

The site at Lom Sak is simply a concrete bund surrounding the perimeter it is very primitive,believe me they aren't capturing any gasses from this facility that much is clear.

[eliotness]

It looks like the garbage is saturated with water, so it's not going to burn very well. Furthermore how is it going to be temporally stored ? Obvious problem with flies, rats and other vermin.

Garbage for power generation needs to be sorted first for recycling, composting etc. I've never heard before of anyone digging up a dump (I would use the term "landfill" but I suspect it's no where near international standards) to use as fuel, but I will stand to be corrected if someone has knowledge of it working well. I should also imagine the exhaust gases from burning that waste will be pretty foul and will require 1st world scrubbers, not liable to happen is it ?

If you read the post they are at this time simply moving the waste from its current position to the Lom Sak facility which is about 30 clicks away,as far as I know the incinerator isn't even built yet as they state above.

I doubt it will ever get built.

I live in Lom Sak.

Then it looks like the storage will be long-term if not permanent. That raises the questions, is the "landfill" at Lom Sak lined ? What machinery do they use on site, eg compactors, dozers, front-end loaders, tipper trucks for cover material ? What is the compaction ratio achieved ? Is the landfill gas managed or just allowed to vent into the atmosphere ?

If there is no lining then there will eventually be a rather nasty effect on the groundwater. I'm guessing, but I bet they don't have leachate treatment.

Maybe time to leave Lom Sak

Time to leave Lom Sak.

I can only imagine these issues are a nationwide problem.

The site at Lom Sak is simply a concrete bund surrounding the perimeter it is very primitive,believe me they aren't capturing any gasses from this facility that much is clear.

I read a post recently on a related topic from a guy who I guess was a "environmental consultant" from Australia. He implied that he had advised the government (not sure which) and that Thailand has 1st world facilities for waste management. I know he'll probably reappear and jump down my throat quoting all sorts of data, but from the guys on the ground, like yourself, we get a very different picture.

Capturing the landfill gases tends to be governed by scale and I suspect not economical in this case, however what is important in all cases is compaction and daily cover. If compaction is not greater than 7:1 then the release of odour (Methane has no smell) will be rapid and cause nearby residences great problems. Also good compaction helps reduce leachate and reduce vermin as does daily covering (with soil or construction/demolition solids). If they do not have the right equipment then there is no chance of coping. Minimum should be a D6 bulldozer and a tipper truck (a front-end loader would be a bonus). As you live close, what do they actually have ?

I'm not just knocking Thailand as 6 years ago I opposed a landfill proposal on a factory site in the UK (where I worked) that thought they could use just a JCB. Didn't get any brownie points for that as it was a senior manager who suggested a JCB, but hey ho !!!

[eliotness]

Just seen it on channel 8 news. The waste being removed was so wet it was actually steaming. A close up picture showed the waste is totally mixed, so no sorting was attempted before dumping. The waste was covered with flies. Not a good situation. I hope they have a plan to make the area "clean" once the waste has been removed.