Monitor at Sunrise landfill now detecting leaking gasses

Monday, May 11, 1998 | 11:08 a.m.

An air monitor placed at the old Sunrise Mountain landfill is now recording gas levels arising from the closed dump.

The monitor was set to measure methane and hydrogen sulfide gases, but with persistent winds last week nothing was measured.

The Clark County Health District's Air Pollution Control Division installed the monitor at the landfill to measure the gases given off. Nearby residents have complained about rotten egg odors when they are outside their homes about a mile away.

Clark County Public Works, the Health District, Silver State Disposal Co. (the landfill's operator) and the Bureau of Land Management, which owns the landfill, are trying to reach an agreement to remove the methane gas and monitor ground water that is two miles uphill from Southern Nevada's major drinking water supply.

Officials plan to meet Friday with the latest proposals.

The Sunrise landfill operated for 31 years about 15 miles east of downtown Las Vegas. It was closed in 1993 and capped later under existing federal regulations.

But BLM consultants have questioned the cover, which has cracked under desert conditions, and are concerned about ground water contamination.

The 720-acre landfill contains an estimated 47 million cubic yards of refuse. The contents include household garbage, industrial and commercial wastes and non-hazardous wastes containing asbestos, medical refuse, sewer sludge and petroleum-contaminated soils.