What do parks have in common with methane gas?

In the late 1970s, while I lived in London, ON, there was an explosion in downtown London that was caused by methane gas. It was frightening since one of my co-workers lived in the area. Fortunately, her home was not damaged, but others in the area were not so lucky. This was my first understanding of what methane gas was, where it came from and what it could do. Landfills are the connection between parks and methane gas. Old landfill sites are closed and eventually sculpted into parks. In some instances, such as the case in London, homes are built on former landfills. Over time, gases build as the debris decomposes. Venting is necessary to allow the gases to escape, in order to prevent explosions.












The top two photos
are Malden Park and
the bottom photo is
Little River Park.

In the Windsor area there are two parks that have been created from closed landfill sites. One on the west side of Windsor and one on the east side. These sites have been closed for decades and the City of Windsor has painstakingly sculpted these two areas so that the public can enjoy them. For those unfamiliar with these parks -- they are Malden Park also referred to as Malden Hill and Little River Park (or Suicide Hill for those who enjoy sports such as biking; the park is unsupervised).They were formerly known as the Malden Landfill site and Little River Landfill site. The City of Windsor worked on converting these two sites and now they are essentially the only "hills" in a relatively flat area. Albeit man-made, at least it offers a safer environment for children tobogganing.

When I was a kid, if you wanted to toboggan it was usually down the side of the overpasses for 401. Not necessarily the safest way to go. These parks are open to the public, for hiking, cycling and picnicking. There are extensive trails, the Little River Park is near the Ganatchio Trail which is another favourite spot for hikers, runners and cyclists. Malden Hill has an extensive trail system but is not close to any other trail system. If you have the opportunity, it is truly an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. Malden Park is not far from the University, there are ponds, some areas to sit and during the summer there is a pavillion, washrooms etc. Check it out, you might be pleasantly surprised to see what garbage can do.

To close, I would like to discuss the methane issue from a different perspective. Last year my husband and I were having a discussion about methane gas and its effect on the environment when he mentioned something about methane retrieval. He had heard or read an article about a company that was collecting the methane produced by landfill waste to use for energy. The company is S.C. Johnson and the article is attached here. The article which appeared in The Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee, May 2, 2003 discusses the efforts to which the company has gone, in order to be environmentally friendly and the amount of money saved in energy costs. It is interesting to note that the landfill is not on their property. At the time of the article the annual savings after startup and operating costs were estimated at $2.4 million dollars annually.

It is nice to know that some companies are being proactive regarding the environment. In a way, it's ironic that a company that manufactures items that could be harmful to the environment has taken such steps. But after all, S.C. Johnson has always been ahead of their time. According to the article, they were the first company to eliminate chlorofluorocarbons from their products before it was mandated by the government. Way to go! Hopefully, many others will follow suit in an effort to clean things up for the future.