Alliance landfill [Methane]

Physical and cultural impacts:

The Alliance landfill is one of the largest landfills in the Scranton / Wilkes Barre region, with 150 acres of waste capacity.
Over the several waste hills, vent pipes extract and collect landfill gases, primarily methane, for use in generating electricity.
The landfill is covered with soil, a three-layer synthetic cap, and two feet of additional soil. At Alliance, landfill managers have been monitoring experimental tree plantings for the integrity of the cap, and for species use.

From top:

Liners and drainage trenches around a new fill section; trucks dumping daily fill; caps over cells of the active landfill hill; students observing the methane capture system and experimental plantings.