The uppermost heavy line from Tucson, AZ through Albuquerque, NM, sloping up to Lawrence, KS, then to Urbana, IL, and on east to Washington, DC, separates the U.S. into two storm-type zones. As the map shows, the number of thunder storms in the U.S. varies from an average of 10 per year along the western edge of California, Oregon and Washington, to a high of 100 per year in central Florida. Let's take New Jersey, for example. And, because a landfill is ordinarily elevated above surrounding terrain, these average numbers actually underestimate the frequency of lightning strikes. Landfills are ordinarily elevated above surrounding terrain because garbage is heaped up in a pile.
Landfills are therefore more susceptible to lightning strikes than is flat ground.
Let's take another example. The only cap that could work would be a 20-footthick layer of clay. An alternative would be lightning protection. The National Fire Protection Code requires lightning protection for all structures containing flammable liquids or gases. The explosive methane gas generated within a landfill probably meets this specification.