Closed Eubank Landfill

Location – South end of Eubank Boulevard, North of Tijeras Arroyo and east of Kirtland Air Force Base

Dates of Operation – 1963 - 1984 by the City of Albuquerque

Acres – 81.5

Estimated Original Amounts of  Waste – 2 million tons or 4 million cubic yards

Depth to Groundwater and Direction –570 to 620 feet and site-specific flows is to the east-northeast

Site Description

The closed Eubank Landfill is located at the south end of Eubank Boulevard, north of Tijeras Arroyo and east of Kirtland Air Force Base.  The landfill consisted of two distinct fill areas:  the northeast and southwest.  The northeast fill area was leased as a landfill from the State Land Office and operated from 1963 to 1973 and covers approximately 21 acres with a waste thickness ranging from 30-40 feet.  The southwest fill area was leased as a landfill from the State Land Office and the Cathedral of St. John and Margaret Glasebrook and operated from 1974 to 1984 and covers approximately 60 acres with a waste thickness ranging from 36-40 feet.   The average soil cover is 4.6 feet.  Since 1984 Eubank landfill has been open space.  

Landfill gas studies conducted in 1996 and 2002 identified methane and chlorinated solvent gases.  Following 2003, the City of Albuquerque Environmental Health Department installed 27 perimeter and four interior landfill gas monitoring wells which have been sampled regularly.  None of the perimeter wells have exceeded 5% methane.  The interior wells have shown methane concentrations as high as 61%.

Since 1988, the City of Albuquerque Environmental Health Department installed five groundwater monitoring wells.    The wells have been monitored on a regular basis since installation.  One well (Eubank-4) is dry.  Chlorinated solvent concentrations have consistently been below the drinking water standard of 5.0 micrograms per liter.

The buffer zone for this landfill is established at 500 feet from the landfill boundary.  Building projects and development projects located within the buffer zone are reviewed by the City of Albuquerque Environmental Health Department for landfill gas impacts.

Current Status

• Continue semi-annual landfill gas and annual groundwater monitoring.
• A vapor extraction test within the landfill is planned for 2016 to determine landfill gas concentrations, recovery rates, and methane generation.
• Results of the test may require the installation of a landfill gas recovery system.
• A topographic and subsurface geophysical survey is planned for 2016.

Project Documents

• Landfill Gas Investigation and Characterization Study Eubank Landfill – April 2002
• Landfill Management Plan, Former Eubank Landfill - June 2009
• Landfill Maps
• Geophysical Survey-2016
• Landfill Gas Results 2016 to present

3D Model