Sonja Alexander
Headquarters, Washington, DC                        May 9, 2000
(Phone:  202/358-1761)

Jim Sahli
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
(Phone: 301/286-0697)

RELEASE:  c00-d

NASA CENTER TO PROCURE LANDFILL GAS FOR USE IN HEATING PLANT

     NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, will burn 
landfill gas to heat its buildings under a new contract awarded 
today.

     "This project will prevent as much pollution as planting 
68,000 acres of trees or removing 100,000 cars from Maryland 
highways by reducing harmful gases produced at the Center and the 
landfill.  As an added benefit, we expect significant savings over 
our current gas and fuel oil costs.  Further savings will be 
realized in the future if the Center expands the project to 
include alternate fuel for our vehicles," said Barry Green, 
Goddard energy manager.

     The sole-source contract was awarded to Toro Energy of 
Maryland, LLC, Dallas, TX, for utility service of landfill gas.  
The contract also will provide for modification of two Goddard 
boilers in the Center's central heating plant, construction of a 
pipeline to transport landfill gas to Goddard, and construction of 
a gas-treatment facility at Sandy Hill landfill in Bowie, MD. 

     Goddard's five boilers currently are capable of burning 
either of two fuels: natural gas or diesel fuel oil.  The contract 
will modify two of these boilers so that they each can burn 
landfill gas, natural gas or diesel fuel oil.  The remaining 
boilers will remain unchanged.  

     The award is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery 
indefinite-quantity contract. The estimated total cost of the 
contract is not-to-exceed $49.9 million over 10 years.

     Goddard plans to purchase no less than $900,000 of 
landfill gas annually. The unit gas cost includes the costs of 
building facilities to accommodate the delivery of gas.  The 
Center also intends to expand use of the gas to alternate-fueled 
vehicles, and possibly to become a centralized government fueling 
station.  Other possible applications for using the landfill gas 
may be powering chillers in the power plant, or even electrical 
generation. 

                           -end-