How Landfills Work

The landfill gas monitoring program collects samples of landfill gas for analysis, monitors ambient air quality, and evaluates performance of the landfill gas collection system and gas plant efficiency.

• Hartland Landfill gas monitoring program and annual reports

Groundwater is the water found underneath the ground in spaces between rocks, sand, and soil.

Levels and quality are monitored quarterly to assess potential impacts of landfill processes and operations on groundwater.

Groundwater is monitored at over 150 stations on and off the landfill site, including 14 privately-owned domestic drinking water wells located within a 2km radius of the landfill.

• Hartland Landfill Groundwater Surface Water and Leachate Monitoring Program reports

Hartland Landfill is located within the Tod Creek watershed. Surface water flowing south from the landfill is directed to Killarney Lake and Prospect Lake, and ultimately discharges to Tod Creek. As well, surface water draining north from the landfill flows northeasterly through Heal Creek and Durrance Creek, discharging to Tod Creek and ultimately Tod Inlet.

Surface water diversion ditches are used to redirect clean runoff from the natural areas adjacent to the landfill to minimize the amount of leachate that is generated within the landfill. Water that is diverted and existing drainage courses on the landfill property and downstream of the landfill are monitored to ensure that water quality is not affected by landfilling operations.

• Hartland Landfill Groundwater Surface Water and Leachate Monitoring Program reports

Leachate is the liquid that forms from rainwater and groundwater moving through landfilled garbage. To limit the amount of leachate created, closed parts of the landfill are capped or covered with tarps so that water does not move through garbage and is instead diverted away. When leachate is generated, it is captured and drains to one of two leachate lagoons located onsite. Leachate is tested before being discharged from the site via a pipeline to the sanitary sewer.

Leachate monitoring is used to determine the volume of leachate discharged and flow rates to the sanitary sewer. The CRD's SCADA data collection system provides continuous automated monitoring of the volume of leachate discharged. Leachate testing is conducted monthly to characterize the chemical constituents present in the leachate and assess compliance with the CRD Sewer Use Bylaw.

• Hartland Landfill Groundwater Surface Water and Leachate Monitoring Program reports

Initially, the gas was burned off using a flare. In 2003, Hartland built a power plant next to the flare station to create electricity using a special engine that ran on methane. This gas-to-electricity plant generated close to 1.6 megawatts of green power, enough electricity to supply around 1,600 homes per year.

In 2012, Hartland introduced a Landfill Gas Management Plan to improve gas collection and meet environmental goals set by the province. The plan includes installing and maintaining equipment and regularly reporting progress. Since then, gas collection has increased, and greenhouse gas emissions have dropped by about 50% compared to 2011. Hartland continues to expand the system to capture even more gas and protect the environment.

In December 2023, the electricity plant was decommissioned and replaced with a new facility that upgrades landfill gas into Renewable Natural Gas (RNG). The CRD partnered with FortisBC and Waga Energy to develop the $32 million Hartland RNG facility—the first of its kind on Vancouver Island. Using WAGABOX® technology, the facility captures biogas and upgrades it into RNG, which FortisBC injects into its gas system.

The facility is expected to produce up to 360,000 gigajoules of RNG annually and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 475,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over 25 years—the equivalent of removing emissions from 105,000 Canadian homes. Waga Energy will operate the facility for 25 years, while the CRD continues to manage the landfill and gas collection system. The project is fully self-funded through the sale of RNG and supports both regional and provincial climate action goals.

• What is the Hartland Renewable Natural Gas Initiative? [PDF/80KB] [PDF/80KB]