Catoosa County leaders were banking that an agreement with a local company to turn methane gas into energy could solve a potentially hazardous problem while saving the county money but that plan has hit a snag.

Catoosa County Board of Commissioners, on June 21, approved the county manager and finance director to advertise for bids on the installation of methane extraction wells at the Catoosa County landfill.

In April Commissioners and Catoosa County Solid Waste Management Authority approved a contract with Cogeneration Technologies, Inc., of Ooltewah, Tenn. to install the wells. Interim County Manager Ron Brown told commissioners that the company is now not sure when it will be able to move forward due to funding problems.

When the deal with Cogeneration was proposed in February, the county was on the verge of spending about $400,000 to satisfy Georgia Environmental Protection Division requirements, after already spending $200,000 in hopes of solving a methane gas migration problem at the former county landfill.

Michael McCullough, Cogeneration Technologies president, offered the boards an option of collaborating with its company to use the methane produced at the landfill’s Site One to create energy.

The company was to provide the installation of 16 new methane extraction wells required by the state and pay a lease fee of $1,000 per month for the space.

Methane gas is a by-product of rotting garbage.

According to the National Agriculture Safety Database, Methane is odorless and lighter than air. It is considered an asphyxiate at extremely high concentrations. The main hazard is its flammable, explosive nature. Methane is extremely difficult to detect without gas detection instruments because it is odorless.

With the company not being able to proceed at this time the county is moving forward in hopes Cogeneration may participate in the methane extraction in the future and reimburse the county for any funds spent to install wells, according to Brown.

Brown said the county will advertise for the entire installation and for a phased installation.

Chairman Bill Clark said Catoosa must go ahead with the project.

“I think the contractor will eventually get everything together to work with us,” he said.

Commissioner Ron Gracy said the county cannot wait because it is under a federal probation order to remove the gas and its probation officer expects some forward momentum.

“We are moving forward as fast as possible,” he said. “If the Cogeneration project becomes funded, and I hope it does, that’s fine, but we must go forward.”

The Catoosa County News contacted Michael McCullough leaving a message requesting comment June 22 at 2:30 p.m.

Previous methane solutions

The two county boards originally approved a methane gas burn-off system in 2002 at an estimated cost of $200,000.

The system consists of numerous extraction wells dug into pockets of suspected methane gas around the landfill, then piped to a motorized vacuum that feeds a flare to safely “burn off” the gas. But the gas is still traveling underground through the soil, cracks, and fissures in the rock and exiting on nearby residents’ land, according to environmental tests.

Operation began in the summer of 2003, but after the system proved inadequate and the county began operating the system constantly rather than only part-time