The City of Newcastle’s waste services commissioned EDP to prepare a landfill gas risk assessment update and quality assurance review of the landfill gas and groundwater monitoring network for the Summerhill Waste Management Centre (SWMC).
The commission was based on EDP staff’s expertise and their involvement with reviewing and contributing towards the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (NSW EPA) assessment and management of hazardous ground gases (NSW EPA, 2020) and EDP staff’s site-specific understanding of the site gained during more than 10 years.
The quality assurance review comprised collecting site-based information and data to check that the drilling work undertaken matched the detailed design specification prepared by EDP. We also checked if the monitoring network was suitable and appropriate for landfill gas monitoring work. The landfill gas risk assessment involved reviewing historical data and information and assessing the landfill gas concentrations to determine the site-specific risks associated with landfill gas to the enclosed site structures and built structures in the surrounding area.
Owing to our effective and timely delivery of the updated landfill gas risk assessment in early January 2023, we were commissioned to review the last three months of landfill gas data for the entire landfill gas monitoring network, to assess the landfill gas risks and to design an appropriate landfill gas monitoring program for presentation to the NSW EPA and inclusion within the site’s environment protection licence.