This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.
Day 1 (Monday, April 05, 2027)—Designing from the Bottom Up, Landfill Liners and Containment Systems
8:30—Welcome, Introductions, Key Concepts
• Evolving standard-of-practice, contaminants, risks, and opportunities
9:30—Keynote: Financial Management of a Solid Waste System [Welch]
• Solid waste economics
• Evolving revenue streams and value-added processes
10:45—Investigating Hydrogeologic Conditions and Groundwater Monitoring [Oelkers]
• Designing an investigation program
– Evolving contaminants
– Quality control
• Exploration methods
• Understanding soil and rock boring logs
• Laboratory testing
13:00—Borrow Source Investigations
• Properties of suitable liner/cover soil
• Compaction specifications and QA/QC
• Incorporating reasonable soil specifications
• Class activity
14:30—Base Grades and Liquid Management Systems, Two Parts
• Base grades
• Slopes and berming
• Phasing
• Leachate collection systems
– Drainage sand/stone
– Drainage geosynthetics
– Base grades and toe drains
• Geometrical design
• Leachate head calculations
15:45—Liquid Management Systems, Part 2
• Pipe network, cleanouts, pumps, and on-site storage
• Effects on solid waste management systems
• Dewatering system design and operation
• Economic analysis of dewatering system
17:00—Adjourn for Day
Day 2 (Tuesday, April 06, 2027)—Designing up through the Cover System
8:00—Geosynthetic Design for Containment Systems, Two Parts
• Polymers 101
• Geosynthetic types and functions
• Contaminant transport mechanisms
• Composite barrier systems and performance calculations
Geosynthetic Clay Liners (GCLs)
• Types and styles of GCLs
• Compatibility with various types of leachate
• Advances in polymer-amended bentonite
9:45—Contaminant Flux and Leak Detection
• Key factors that affect the transport of contaminants through containment systems
• Calculations and perspectives of contaminant flux
• Liner integrity
• Electrical leak detection surveys
11:00— Final Covers for Waste Containment Systems
• Functions and types of cover systems
• Cover selection criteria
• Design of cover drainage
• Alternative covers, design and PET calculations
13:00— Black Goo
• What is this stuff?
• Visual, textural and olfactory characteristics
• How to remedy black goo problems
14:45— Elevated Temperature Landfills
• Chemical and physical indicators
• Management
• Odor control
16:00— Landfill Closures
• Final Closures
• Post-Closure Use Options
• Solar-on-Landfill
17:15—Adjourn for Day
Day 3 (Wednesday, April 07, 2027)—Cover Systems, Closures, Landfill Tour
8:00— Landfill Drainage, Stormwater Management, and Runoff Control
• Key runoff considerations
• Layout and sizing of stormwater management features
• Developing a stormwater model
9:30—Developing a Landfill Gas Management and Beneficial Recovery Plan
• High-BTU natural gas offsets
• Developing a solid waste biogas project
• BioCNG selection, design, and operation
• Financial considerations and clean fuel incentives
• Pipeline-grade high-BTU gas conversion
10:45—Sustainable Waste Management Campus
• Waste as a resource
• Innovative social hubs and business activity
• Space for recreation before, during, and after filling
12:45—Tour of Dane County Landfill
• Bus departs at 12:45
– UAV LFG Flight/Sensor Demonstration
– Trash Lab
– Clean Sweep
– Open Face
– High-BTU Conversion Facility
– C&D Recycling Facility
– Mobile LFG Sensor Platform
– Construction Activities
• Bus departs Landfill at 3:45
Day 4 (Thursday, April 08, 2027)—Operations and Evolving Risks/Opportunities
8:00—Gas Collection and Managing Air Emissions
• Sources of landfill air emissions
• Managing landfill air emissions
• Monitoring and controlling landfill gas migration
• Noxious/nuisance gas control
• Collection and header system design
10:45— Leachate Treatment, On Site and Off Site
· On Site Treatment Systems
· Considerations for the treatment of PFAS-impacted leachate
· Transport and treatment at Off-Site WWTP
13:00—Waste Relocations and Expansions
• Environmental, regulatory, legal, and economic drivers
• Health and safety considerations
• Geotechnical considerations
• Case studies
14:15—Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Containment Systems
• History and use
• Naming conventions and physical/chemical properties
• Environmental sources and sinks
• Regulation, guidance, and advisories
• Fate and transport in solid waste management residuals
• Liquids management and treatment
• Remediation technologies and treatment
15:30—Evolving Topics and Course Closure
Registration Date/Time:
4/5/2027 07:30am Central Time
Event Dates/Times:
- 4/5/2027 8:00am - 5:00pm Central Time
- 4/6/2027 8:00am - 5:00pm Central Time
- 4/7/2027 8:00am - 5:00pm Central Time
- 4/8/2027 8:00am - 5:00pm Central Time
Course Location
Instructors
James Tinjum
Associate Professor
James M. Tinjum, PE, PhD, F.ASCE, is an Associate Professor and outgoing Director of the Geological Engineering Program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Dr. Tinjum has 35 years of solid waste experience, beginning in 1990. Prior to his engagement as a faculty member at UW–Madison in 2008, he worked for 15 years in industry for prominent engineer-procure-construct firms and a Fortune 50 company. He has specialized technical knowledge in geoenvironmental and remediation engineering for landfills with industrial waste (lime kiln dust, cement kiln dust, foundry residuals, paper mill sludge, coal combustion residuals), municipal solid waste (particularly landfill liner and cover systems and the monitoring, recovery, and value-added use of landfill gases), and hazardous waste. He conducts research in waste geotechnics and waste containment systems; the beneficial reuse of industrial byproducts (e.g., for subgrade improvement and cementitious stabilization of pavement layers); life cycle environmental analysis of geo systems; remediation of contaminated sites; and fate and transport of landfill gas emissions. Dr. Tinjum developed these interests not only through industry practice and applied research, but also through discussions and interactions with practitioners participating in his nationally/internationally attended engineering short course programs. In applied practice, Dr. Tinjum has participated in nearly 100 solid waste projects.C. Lee Daigle
Client Manager
Lee Daigle is a registered professional engineer in civil engineering with 25 years of experience in the landfill gas industry. Mr. Daigle started his career as an intern at a municipal solid waste landfill in Colonie, New York while attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. While interning, he was fully immersed in the operations, maintenance, and construction of landfill gas collection and control systems, which instilled him with a passion for the industry. Upon graduation, Mr. Daigle continued to focus on landfill gas and expanded his expertise in landfill gas utilization feasibility assessment, design, regulatory compliance, construction, and operations. Mr. Daigle has worked on landfill gas collection systems in over 30 states/territories, three Canadian provinces, and several countries abroad. He has been responsible for the initial start-up and monitoring of collection and control systems and has performed data analysis and interpretation to assist in optimizing overall landfill gas system performance. He also performed construction management and construction quality assurance (CQA) services during the installation of numerous landfill gas extraction and treatment systems, giving him a strong understanding of the construction issues associated with the implementation of cost-effective landfill gas system designs. Since 2011, Mr. Daigle has expanded his practice into all areas of solid waste design including the design and permitting of municipal solid waste cells and closures. Recently, Mr. Daigle has been elected to the Solid Waste Association of North America's Board of Directors, Wisconsin Badger Chapter and currently serves as Vice President of the board.
Craig Benson
Director of Project and Equipment Engineering
Craig H. Benson, PE, PhD, NAE, and former Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (and emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison), has extensive expertise in the discipline referred to as geoenvironmental engineering. This discipline is at the interface of the built and natural environments and deals with issues in the subsurface or interactions between conditions at the earth’s surface and the subsurface. In most cases, the important objective is to protect soil and ground water or to engineer systems that reduce emissions or save energy. His research in geoenvironmental engineering fits in three broad classes: design and assessment of environmental containment systems for municipal, hazardous, and radioactive wastes; reuse and recycling of industrial byproducts for sustainable construction applications; and sustainability assessment of geological and civil engineering systems.
Amanda Wade
Amanda Wade is a Solid Waste Program Manager for TRC. She is an expert in state and federal requirements for solid waste management including landfill design, construction, and operations as well as general solid waste permitting criteria. Spanning over 24 years, she has overseen and/or designed numerous solid waste liner and closure projects ranging in complexity from rural municipal landfills to papermill landfills and ultimately to large-scale commercial facilities. She has also permitted numerous solar-on-landfill projects in Massachusetts. Amanda spent the first 15 years of her career with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) as a member of the Solid Waste Engineering Unit. Since leaving the MDEP, she has worked as a consultant, managing, and serving as the Engineer of Record for numerous solid waste facilities throughout New England. She currently serves as President for the Northern New England Chapter of SWANA and is Vice Chair of the Environmental Business Council of New England (EBC) Solid Waste Management Committee.
John Welch
Recycling / Project Manager
John Welch, PE, Director of Waste and Renewables, Dane County, Madison, WI. John is an experienced Owner/Manager with a demonstrated history of achieving positive results in the solid waste industry. John is skilled in management and operation of landfills, HHW facilities, transfer stations, C&D MRFs, and biogas facilities. John is a licensed Professional Engineer with a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Program Director
Dave Peterson