Gas Explosion at Pennsylvania Landfill Injures 1

An explosion involving a system for collecting gas from organic decomposition injured a worker at a sanitary landfill in southwestern Pennsylvania, local media report.

At about 10 a.m. Wednesday, the worker was performing routine maintenance on a collection line at the Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill in Belle Vernon when the explosion occurred, leaving him with serious but not fatal injuries.

Landfill gas (LFG) is a natural byproduct of the decomposition of organic materials in landfills. LFG is composed of roughly 50 percent methane, 50 percent carbon dioxide and a small amount of non-methane organic compounds.

To help reduce odor and limit methane escaping into the atmosphere, collection systems capture LFG to be used as a renewable energy resource.

Repairs to the collection system are being made, a landfill spokesperson said.