More gas to pass at Winnipeg garbage dump

Residents living near Winnipeg's Brady Road Landfill may start to notice a stink in the air.

• Winnipeg to capture more methane below the surface of Brady Road dump

The City of Winnipeg is expanding a gas collection system, which will double the amount of landfill gas it collects.

The collection system at the Brady Road Landfill is being expanded this summer to meet a requirement under the Climate Change and Emissions Reductions Act.

The city is warning that it might smell up to a quarter-mile away from the landfill site as old garbage is exposed during construction.

The gas collected at the garbage dump is primarily made up of methane, a toxic greenhouse gas thatis 21 times worse thancarbon dioxide on its global warming potential, the city said.

The Brady Road collection system started working in 2013 and flared 104,349 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2016, which is the equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions from 22,061 passenger cars.

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Once the system is expanded, the city said it will capture emissions equal to what 44,000 passenger cars would emit. Construction starts this week and is expected to be complete by Sept. 25.

Crews have to drill 24 wells and install 3,500 metres of piping, the city said, adding the work may cause odours in the area surrounding the dump as old garbage is exposed during construction.

The city said residents can report odours from the landfill any time by calling 311.