To fulfill their objectives of protecting the environment, landfill caps should be fitted with lightning protection, just the way military ammunition dumps are protected. Tall towers with heavy cables strung between them, solidly grounded, are one option. A 10-acre landfill could be protected by four 250' towers spaced 900 ft. apart. Such towers would have to meet Federal Aviation Administration regulations for obstruction lights and standby power supplies, to minimize hazards to aircraft. Large landfills could not be protected by towers because the towers themselves would penetrate the cap, destroying its integrity.
Lightning protection is a well-developed field of engineering.
If the designers, owners and regulators of landfills are serious about protecting the environment, they will address the hazards of lightning and take the necessary steps to see that public health is protected from landfill failures caused by lightning. For alerting us to lightning hazards to landfills, we are indebted to Mr. Leon Whittaker, Rt.