Feb. 5, 2026
By TIM HUNDT
The Viroqua Public Works Committee voted Feb. 3 to recommend the city pursue an active gas extraction system to address methane migration at the closed municipal landfill after consultants warned that a cheaper passive alternative had a low probability of success.
The decision marks a significant step in a remediation process that began in early 2025 when high levels of methane gas were detected near a church and residential properties on the city’s north side. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources subsequently issued a notice of noncompliance requiring the city to stop the gas from migrating beyond its property lines. The city has since installed monitoring probes and a perimeter cutoff trench to protect nearby developments but officials determined a more comprehensive solution is required to meet state standards.
Evaluating the risk of passive venting
Consultant Mike Amstadt of TRC presented two primary options to the committee to bring the city into compliance. He outlined an active system estimated to cost between $2.2 million and $2.4 million and a passive system estimated at $1.5 million. While the passive system offered significant upfront savings Amstadt cautioned that it relies on natural pressure to move gas through approximately 108 proposed wells and might not be sufficient to stop migration.
The final, exact number of wells will be set during detailed design, but the working assumptions are roughly 43–64 wells for an active system versus about 108 vents for a passive system.
- Active gas system (the option the committee recommended):
- Estimated 43–64 wells (well heads), depending on spacing (50 ft vs. 75 ft) and where the most productive gas areas are.
- Passive gas system (not recommended):
- Estimated about 108 vents/wells spread across the landfill.
“I’m a little leery that if it turns out it doesn’t work we probably won’t be able to convert it to an active to the following year,” said Amstadt. “The passive attempts that we’ve tried have not worked to date.”,
City Engineer Sarah Grainger pressed Amstadt for a specific probability of success for the passive option. Amstadt estimated only a 30 percent chance that the passive vents would satisfy regulatory requirements without mechanical assistance. Grainger explained that if the city installed the passive system and it failed the cost to retrofit it with blowers and electricity would result in a total project cost significantly higher than installing the active system immediately.
“In the end it’s not going to just be a true sum of those two parts,” said Grainger. “We’ll end up having a higher total if we sort of take this slower approach.”
Administration weighs financial risk
City Administrator Nate Torres strongly recommended the city pursue an active gas extraction system rather than attempting a cheaper passive solution first. Torres argued that the current passive mitigation efforts have already failed to stop the migration of methane and that the city is currently relying on a rented mechanical blower to keep gas levels down near the church.
“My thought is we’re in a doing a passive system is it’s not working. It’s clearly not,” said Torres. “We’re spending money on a renting a blower, and I think being more aggressive and we need the active system, in my personal opinion. It’s a more expensive route, but I don’t think we’re getting out of it without it”.
Torres emphasized the financial risk analysis provided by the consultant who estimated only a 30 percent chance of success for the passive system, and City Engineer Sarah Grainger had explained that if the passive system failed, the cost to upgrade it later would result in a higher total expenditure than simply installing the active system from the start.
“So the Mayor and staff talked about this, and the passive gas system, could we take a chance and a risk on it try it out? Sure, but the risk reward on it is just so poor that why would we do it right?” said Torres. “If Mike’s saying, hey, there’s a 30% chance that the passive guest, passive gas system, for some reason, works when nothing else has to your point, and, oh, by the way, if it doesn’t, you’re in it for a million more, right? I don’t want, I don’t think it’s prudent for the city to bet a million dollars on a 30% chance”.
Operational costs and solar potential
The active system recommended by the committee involves a network of approximately 64 wells connected to mechanical blowers that create a vacuum to pull methane out of the ground. Grainger noted that unlike the passive system which has no moving parts the active system will incur ongoing operational costs for the city including electricity to run the blowers 24 hours a day.
“He figured if both blowers were running fully 24 hours a day and there was two of them that it could be up to $50,000 of electricity,” said Grainger.
Committee member Seth McClurg questioned if alternative energy sources could offset these new ongoing costs given the location of the site.
“It seems like an optimal scenario for some sort of solar powered system,” said McClurg. “I’m surprised that or maybe they talked about that availability to use solar to power these pumps.”
Grainger responded that while they have not yet designed the specific power source there is a significant amount of land at the site that currently has no good use which could potentially accommodate solar arrays in the future.
Funding challenges and urgency
City officials continue to search for grant funding for the remediation because the project does not fit neatly into standard state or federal categories. Grainger reported that she has reached out to the EPA and USDA but has been told that because the city is the responsible party and the site is not being redeveloped for commercial use it does not qualify for many Brownfield or Superfund grants.
“We don’t fit nicely into any category,” said Grainger. “I have talked to everyone multiple times.”
Grainger noted that the DNR is expecting the city to make a move soon because of the scale of the issue. The committee ultimately voted unanimously to recommend the Common Council move forward with the design of the active gas system to ensure a permanent resolution to the environmental issue.
“I think the active is the way to go but it’s the more expensive option,” said Amstadt. “I think it’ll get you to a point where you stop talking about the landfill.”
The estimated timeline for installing the active methane extraction system projects the system to be operational by late summer 2026.
Consultant Mike Amstadt outlined the following schedule:
- Design and DNR Approval: This phase is expected to take approximately two months, covering February and March.
- Bidding: The project would likely go out for bid in April.
- Contractor Selection: The city aims to select a contractor in May.
- Construction: Construction is slated for the summer of 2026.
- Operational Status: The system may be operational by the “first of August, or end of August,” depending on equipment lead times.
Amstadt noted that while most materials like piping are readily available, the mechanical blower is “not something that’s necessarily sitting on the shelf,” and lead times could potentially push completion to early fall.
Add comment