dioxin formation in landfills [burning]

[Joseph R Parrish Jr <JoeParrish@compuserve.com>]

Neil,
My understanding is that a forest fire puts out 
huge quantities of dioxins.  So if landfills burn 
as hot at that, as is likely, dioxins should result. 
Methane is a greenhouse gas about 20 times or 
so as potent as carbon dioxide, which is why 
landfills should collect, and not vent it.
Joe
NJ/NY Environmental Watch

Re:
"A question about landfills: in many places, landfills are merely open
dumps
without any methane collection system, so they periodically catch fire
spontaneously and smolder for long periods of time. I was concerned about
the possibility of dioxin formation from the PVC and other plastics that
are dumped in these landfills, but on reflection it seems that the
temperature would be too low for dioxin formation. Does anyone have any
information on this?

Neil"