Dean Voelker
Owner, Voelker Industries
Dean with coupler Dean Voelker (pronounced "vel'-ker") started work in the landfill gas field in 1992, working as part of the crew for the King County Solid Waste Division at the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill (CHRLF) in Washington State. His day-to-day responsibilities have included running six Landfill Gas (LFG) collection and control systems for over eleven years. Of these, the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill represents one of the biggest LFG control challenges in the United States.

With a staff of three LFG operators. Dean has been responsible for construction and maintenance of all six systems. This position has allowed him to review design drawings and provide insightful contributions from an operator's perspective. He also has experience with two area development projects, monitoring closed and operating landfills with vertical and horizontal collection systems, sparger wells and migration control LFG systems. He is involved with the operation of the CHRLF Flare Station, one of the largest and most complex installations in the country.

Dean has provided vital assistance in directing the efforts of numerous engineering firms employed at CHRLF. He is also a pioneer in the development of many time- and cost-saving techniques, for example:

  • The use of slip-coupled lateral collection lines in the utility layers of a landfill. This dramatically extends the useful life of the collection lines. [more...]
  • A method for implementing Pitot tubes for automated wellhead monitoring at a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions. [more...]
  • The use of HDPE flange plates on LFG lines instead of stainless steel. [more...]

Dean can be reached by clicking here.