Bulletin staff report

The Deschutes County Department of Solid Waste has built a landfill gas collection system at the Knott Landfill, and a blue flame rising from the landfill is there to burn off methane gases generated by the trash, the department said in a news release.

During the normal decomposition process, garbage produces methane, a flammable gas similar to propane and natural gas.

According to the department, to properly and safely manage the gas, a flare has been installed to burn it off.

The flame, which is typically blue in color, may be visible from nearby roads and residences at night. The flare operates continuously.

Currently, the landfill does not produce enough gas to allow it to be used for such things as a fuel source for the production of electricity.

”At some point in the future we will have enough waste in the landfill to take advantage of this resource. Until then, we will burn the minimum amount of gas needed to properly manage the gas,” Chad Centola, the department’s operations manager, said in the news release.