Gas detection finds methane leak in Scotland

Methane gas has been detected seeping up from the ground surrounding a landfill site in Aberdeenshire.

According to a report in the Aberdeen Press & Journal, work to contain the leak could cost up to £600,000.

The landfill site, which was closed in 1992, was used to dispose of industrial, commercial and domestic waste over more than a decade.

In order to protect local residents, remedial works must now be carried out at the site to safely disperse the dangerous gas.

This will involve putting a fresh membrane on the old landfill pit at a cost of approximately £130,000; earthworks to provide soil cover, priced at around £250,000; and installing a gas flare, which comes in at £200,000.

Aberdeenshire Council has been refused financial help by the Scottish government and will need to fund the necessary works itself.

Anne Coles, the local authority's scientific worker, has warned that the project must be completed. In a memo published in the local newspaper, she said: "The project is all or nothing. No one part is of use without the other two."

One tonne of biodegradable waste generates between 200 and 400 cubic metres of landfill gas, of which approximately 50 per cent is methane, according to Ener-G, a company which specialises in sustainable and energy-efficient technologies.

Posted by Claire Manning