Green for Life (GFL), the new owner of the Arbor Hills Landfill, has begun operating the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) air monitoring station at Ridge Wood Elementary School. The air monitoring station is part of an agreement between the previous landfill owner, Advanced Disposal Services, and the USEPA to settle compliance violations cited in 2016. The air monitoring station will be operated by a third-party firm (Barr Engineering) for at least 5 years.
H2S is a very odorous compound that naturally forms as a byproduct of biological degradation. The smell of H2S is normally associated with the smell of rotten eggs or sewer gas. H2S is typically found in landfills, sewers, manure pits, stagnant swaps, etc. H2S is one of the primary causes of odor complaints downwind of landfills. At very low concentrations (as low as 3 parts per billion) the smell of H2S can be detected. At much higher concentrations, H2S can present toxicity issues (OSHA exposure limits are 10 part per million or 10,000 parts per billion).
Air Monitoring Station located on eastern portion of Ridge Wood property
The Ridge Wood Air Monitoring Station began operation in Mid-December and to-date The Conservancy Initiative is not aware of any detectable levels of H2S at the monitoring station; all results have been <1 ppb. Barr Engineering and GFL have committed to making monitoring data available to the public by posting to a web site approximately 15 – 20 days following the end of each month. Barr and GFL will immediately notify Northville Public School Administrators if the 24-hour average H2S levels exceeds 72 ppb or the instantaneous measurements exceed 750 ppb.
The Conservancy Initiative will continue to track the progress of the monitoring station and report any new information we learn. <Click Here> for a link to the GFL Monitoring Web Page with the monitoring results and reference information on the toxicity of the hydrogen sulfide. You can also access the GFL Monitoring Web Page from a link on The Conservancy Initiative Home Page.