Metal Contaminants in Leachate from Sanitary Landfills

The uncontrolled disposal of solid wastes poses an immediate threat to public health and a long term threat to the environmental well being of future generations. Solid waste is waste resulting from human activities that is solid and unwanted (Peavy et al., 1985). If unmanaged, dumped solid wastes generate liquid and gaseous emissions that are detrimental to the environment. This can lead to a serious form of contamination known as metal contamination, which poses a risk to human health and ecosystems. For example, some heavy metals (cadmium, chromium compounds, and nickel tetracarbonyl) are known to be highly toxic, and are aggressive at elevated concentrations. Iron, copper, and manganese can cause staining, and aluminium causes depositions and discolorations. In addition, calcium and magnesium cause hardness in water causing scale deposition and scum formation. Though not a metal but a metalloid, arsenic is poisonous at relatively high concentrations and when diluted at low concentrations causes skin cancer. Normally, metal contaminants are found in a dissolved form in the liquid percolating through landfills. Because average metal concentrations from full-scale landfills, test cells, and laboratory studies have tended to be generally low, metal contamination originating from landfills is not generally considered a major concern (Kjeldsen et al., 2002; Christensen et al., 1999). However, a number of factors make it necessary to take a closer look at metal contaminants from landfills. One of these factors relates to variability. Landfill leachate can have different qualities depending on the weather and operating conditions. Therefore, at one moment in time, metal contaminant concentrations may be quite low, but at a later time these concentrations could be quite high. Also, these conditions relate to the amount of leachate that is being generated. Another factor is biodiversity. It cannot be assumed that a particular metal contaminant is harmless to flora and fauna (including micro organisms) just because it is harmless to human health. This has significant implications for ecosystems and the environment. Finally, there is the moral factor. Because uncertainty surrounds the potential effects of metal contamination, it is appropriate to take precautions to prevent it from taking place. Consequently, it is necessary to have good scientific knowledge (empirically supported) to adequately understand the extent of the problem and improve the way waste is being disposed of

Adapting woody species and planting techniques to landfill conditions : field and laboratory investigations /

Mode of access: Internet.

Requirements for hazardous waste landfill design, construction, and closure.

"August 1989."

Treatment and utilization of landfill gas : Mountain View project feasibility study ... /

Mode of access: Internet.

Recovery of landfill gas at Mountain View : engineering site study : a current report on solid waste management /

Mode of access: Internet.

Public hearing on proposed landfill disposal guidelines : May 15, 1979, Washington, D.C., transcript.

Sponsored by EPA, Office of Solid Waste.

Public hearing on proposed landfill disposal guidelines, Section 1008(a) : May 17, 1979, Houston, Texas, transcript.

Mode of access: Internet.

Landfill and surface impoundment performance evaluation manual /

"SW-869"--Cover.

BKK landfill in West Covina, California : hearing before the Subcommittee on Energy, Environment, and Safety Issues Affecting Small Business of the Committee on Small Business, House of Representatives, Ninety-eighth Congress, second session, Washington, D.C., July 31, 1984.

Mode of access: Internet.

Public health assessment, Kessman/Cross County Landfill, Patterson, Putnam County, New York /

"CERCLIS no. NYD980528491."

Public health assessment, Huntington Landfill, Town of Huntington, Suffolk County, New York /

"Cerclis No. NYD980506844."

Health consultation, Hertel landfill site, Plattekill, Ulster County, New York /

"Cerclis No. NYD980780779."

Public health assessment, Al Turi Landfill, town of Goshen, Orange County, New York /

"Prepared under a Cooperative Agreement with U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry."

Bath Landfill : Decatur, Illinois.

"32571"--Colophon.

Bath, Inc. Landfill : Macon County, Illinois.

The 17-acre landfill southwest of Decatur on the south bank of the Sangamon River was permitted in 1974 as a demolition debris landfill. It originated as an open dump in 1918. The site had a history of not complying with the state landfill rules in the 1980s. The landfill also exceeded its permitted waste disposal limits, by the time that the operations stopped in 1991. The owner failed to comply with an August 1994 court order requiring proper cover to be installed and maintained. Visible leachate seeps (leachate is water that has traveled through the landfill and contacts waste material) and exposed refuse were observed along the bank of the Sangamon River. ... This landfill was one of the 33 landfills in Illinois identified by the Illinois EPA in 1998 as most in need of immediate repairs. The state legislature responded by passing legislation that allocated $50 million over five years to address these 33 sites. These 33 landfills are being managed through the Abandoned Landfill Program.