Control and mitigation of landfill gas (LFG) is necessary for the protection of public health, safety, and the environment; however, it's a big plus when a closed landfill can be developed for beneficial public use. Such is the case of the former Junipero Serra Landfill, over which the Home Depot at the Metro Bay Centre in Colma, California, opened in 1995. Of course, this positive addition to the community was only possible through some creative engineering and the proper control of LFG. Historically, post-closure development of landfills has been limited to public parks, golf courses, storage, and other low-value facilities in which landfill settlement does not have a significant impact. However, as the value of available land continues to escalate, closed landfills are increasingly considered for commercial development. Learning from the past mistakes of others, settlement effects are being addressed in the design process. This, coupled with state-of-the-art LFG protection systems beneath buildings to control potentially explosive LFG, now makes development over a landfill feasible.
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