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TextEPA Awards Fairfax County
Fairfax County Office of Public
Affairs
12000 Government Center Parkway, Suite 551
Fairfax, VA 22035-0065
703-324-3187, TTY 711, FAX 703-324-2010
Jan. 25, 2006
EPA Awards Fairfax County for Innovative
Use of Landfill Gas
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has selected Fairfax County to receive the 2005 Landfill Methane Outreach Program’s Community Partner of the Year award. The EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program is a voluntary assistance and partnership program that promotes the use of landfill gas as a renewable, green energy source. Staff from the Solid Waste Program, a division of the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services, accepted the award in Baltimore on Jan. 18.
In 2005, Fairfax County replaced an existing propane-fired heating system in the maintenance shop at the I-95 Landfill Complex, 9850 Furnace Road, Fairfax, with landfill-gas-fired-infrared tube heaters. The building is a large space with overhead doors to accommodate the flow of equipment and vehicles entering and leaving the building, which allows for a significant loss of heat, resulting in an uncomfortable working environment and high energy costs. The use of landfill-gas-fired-infrared tube heaters helps to keep the shop warm by warming objects instead of air and, therefore, provides improved working conditions for employees.
The county benefits from a cost savings of more than $5,000 per year for fuel. Use of landfill gas will offset the use of the equivalent of about 1 million cubic feet of natural gas. This will offset approximately 17 tons of carbon emissions each year.
This project is the latest in a series of landfill gas utilization projects at the I-95 Landfill Complex. Landfill gas also is used to generate electricity, which is sold to the electric utility Dominion Virginia Power, and to offset natural gas use at the county’s Noman M. Cole Pollution Control Plant, located at 9399 Richmond Highway, Lorton.
Additional information is available from Joyce Doughty, director, Solid Waste Disposal and Resource Recovery, 703-324-5230, TTY 711.
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