Countywide : Emergency Action Taken to Control Gas

High levels of underground methane gas have migrated beyond the boundaries of an old garbage dump in Orange, forcing the county to take emergency action to draw out the potentially combustible gas.

The migration does not pose a danger to homes near the Villa Park Refuse Station at Santiago Canyon Road and Loma Street, said Cymantha Atkinson, spokeswoman for the county’s Integrated Waste Management Department.

“Substantial” amounts of methane were detected last week by a gas monitor placed in the Santiago Canyon Road right-of-way just outside the dump, which was closed in 1966.

County officials monitored gas levels around adjacent residences but found no indication that the methane had moved into the area, Atkinson said.

The county is required by federal law to halt migrations of gas from landfills and other garbage dumping sites.

In an effort to immediately remedy the problem, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an emergency contract for a gas control system designed to remove the methane. The device runs the gas through a carbon filter before releasing it above ground. The county will spend as much as $500,000 for the system.