Geochemical characterisation and geophysical mapping of Landfill leachates: the Marozzo canal case study (NE Italy)

An integrated approach including geochemical analyses and geophysical investigations, aimed at characterizing the chemical composition of leachate and at highlighting the extent and magnitude of the plume in terms of spatial distribution is presented. The reason for the specific induced polarisation behaviour over landfills was not well understood. In this work we propose an explanation for this behaviour, which is being used to detect the presence of possible leaks and to track and delimit the pollution plume for several years.As a case study the example of an abandoned municipal solid waste landfill, located in Comacchio County, NE Italy, is presented, where the operative conditions for any resistivity monitoring method were to be excluded because of the high salinity of the phreatic aquifer.     

Environmental geochemistry of the derelict Webbs Consols mine,New South Wales,Australia

Small-scale mining and mineral processing at the Webbs Consols polymetallic PbZnAg deposit in northern New South Wales, Australia has caused a significant environmental impact on streams, soils and vegetation. Unconfined waste rock dumps and tailings dams are the source of the problems. The partly oxidised sulphidic mine wastes contain abundant sulphides (arsenopyrite, sphalerite, galena) and oxidation products (scorodite, anglesite, smectite, Fe-oxyhydroxides), and possess extreme As and Pb (wt% levels) and elevated Ag, Cd, Cu, Sb and Zn values. Contemporary sulphide oxidation, hardpan formation, crystallisation of mineral efflorescences and acid mine drainage generation occur within the waste repositories. Acid seepages (pH 1.9–6.0) from waste dumps, tailings dams and mine workings display extreme As, Pb and Zn and elevated Cd, Cu and Sb contents. Drainage from the area is by the strongly contaminated Webbs Consols Creek and although this stream joins and is diluted by the much larger Severn River, contamination of water and stream sediments in the latter is evident for 1–5 km, and 12 km respectively, downstream of the mine site. The pronounced contamination of local and regional soils and sediments, despite the relatively small scale of the former operation, is due to the high metal tenor of abandoned waste material and the scarcity of neutralising minerals. Any rehabilitation plan of the site should include the relocation of waste materials to higher ground and capping, with only partial neutralisation of the waste to pH 4–5 in order to limit potential dissolution of scorodite and mobilisation of As into seepages and stream waters.     

Landfill site selection by using geographic information systems

One of the serious and growing potential problems in most large urban areas is the shortage of land for waste disposal. Although there are some efforts to reduce and recover the waste, disposal in landfills is still the most common method for waste destination. An inappropriate landfill site may have negative environmental, economic and ecological impacts. Therefore, it should be selected carefully by considering both regulations and constraints on other sources. In this study, candidate sites for an appropriate landfill area in the vicinity of Ankara are determined by using the integration of geographic information systems and multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA). For this purpose, 16 input map layers including topography, settlements (urban centers and villages), roads (Highway E90 and village roads), railways, airport, wetlands, infrastructures (pipelines and power lines), slope, geology, land use, floodplains, aquifers and surface water are prepared and two different MCDA methods (simple additive weighting and analytic hierarchy process) are implemented to a geographical information system. Comparison of the maps produced by these two different methods shows that both methods yield conformable results. Field checks also confirm that the candidate sites agree well with the selected criteria.     

氢氧化镁作为吸附剂的应用研究进展

由于氢氧化镁具有较强的吸附特性,且具有活性强、缓冲性好、无腐蚀性等特点,作为一种安全、无毒的吸附剂,在环保领域有较广泛的应用。全面综述了氢氧化镁作为吸附剂在各种水质废水(包括酸性废水、印染废水、含重金属工业废水、含磷和铵城市废水)处理,以及在海(卤)水除硼和烟气脱硫等方面的应用研究。     

The scramble for the Waste Lands: Tracking colonial legacies,counterinsurgency and international investment through the lens of land laws in Burma/Myanmar

This article traces the revenue category and legal concept of the Waste Land in Burma/Myanmar from its original application by the British colonial apparatus in the nineteenth century, to its later use in tandem with Burma Army counterinsurgent tactics starting in the 1960s, and finally to the 2012 land laws and current issues in international investment. This adaptation of colonial ideas about territorialization in the context of an ongoing civil war offers a new angle for understanding the relationship between military tactics and the political economy of conflict and counterinsurgent strategies which crucially depended on giving local militias—both government and nongovernment—high degrees of autonomy. The recent government changes, including the more civilian representation in parliament and its shift to engage with Western economies, raise questions regarding the future of the military, as well as local autonomy and the rural peasantry's access to land. As increasing numbers of international investors are poised to enter the Myanmar market, this article will revisit notions of land use and appropriation, and finally the role of the army and its changing relationship with Waste Lands.     

Waste governance and ecological identity in Maui,Hawaii, USA

Recent scholarship examining environmental governance and solid waste management (SWM) in Hawaii has demonstrated the complexities of managing refuse in a remote, ecologically sensitive archipelago. Despite decades of calls for intensive recycling, composting, incineration, and other non-landfill disposal technologies, most islands of Hawaii continue to rely on sanitary landfilling. On Maui, a minor bureaucratic scandal centered on landfill permitting triggered the formation of an ad hoc entity intended to change SWM once and for all – the Solid Waste Resources Advisory Committee (SWRAC). I mobilize scholarship on waste governance, and in particular the ‘modes of governing’ framework to interrogate the decision-making processes of the SWRAC, evaluate their outputs, and consider the reasons for their ultimately limited impact on SWM governance on Maui. Based on a close reading of SWRAC meeting minutes and documents, I identify several factors, including the lack of clear goals or targets for SWRAC activity; a flawed, consensus-oriented decision-making process; and a failure to contextualize SWM within the broader environmental and cultural terrain of Maui. Taken together, I contend that these three problem areas underline the significance of seriously incorporating and harmonizing competing conceptions of ecological identity into both the ‘modes of governing’ framework and the scholarship of environmental governance more broadly.     

垃圾卫生填埋结构对地质环境效应的控制研究

通过大量的现场调查、室内外试验及综合分析,以多种手段较系统地研究了垃圾及其渗滤液成分组成与变化规律,填埋场的地理—地质条件,填埋结构单元的控制机理,填埋结构控制作用的数学模拟和垃圾卫生填埋结构优化设计系统及其应用。首先,根据实际调查资料的统计结果,论述垃圾成分受到生活水平、能耗结构、季节、地域等多种因素的影响,并分析垃圾产量和成分变化的一般规律。以试验和现场监测为基础,详细研究垃圾渗滤液成分的变化特征,探讨垃圾的分解过程,指出垃圾渗滤液成分具有以有机质及其分解产物为主的高浓度、强污染特性,总体上具有随时间呈负指数衰减的动态变化规律。结合成都长安垃圾填埋场,首次详细、系统地从试验和模型计算两方面研究填埋结构对地质环境效应的控制作用。控制作用体现在两个方面：一方面,是填埋结构的各个组成部分（衬里、垃圾层、填土层）能够有效地去除污染物质,由于填埋体类似于一个生物反应器,有机质发生生物降解,分解的终极产物（如ＮＨ＋４）可被填土层和衬里吸附;另一方面,通过改变衬里、填土层的厚度与密度,可以控制渗滤液在填埋体内的水动力条件,从而控制渗滤液下渗对地下水造成的污染。在试验结果的基础上,建立模拟模型,完整系统地研究渗滤液水头     

Testing the ability of bentonite-amended natural zeolite (clinoptinolite) to remove heavy metals from liquid waste

 The design of environmentally sound liquid waste containment structures has become a crucial task in engineering applications due to ever increasing groundwater contamination from such sites. Construction of such structures usually requires a bottom liner of low hydraulic conductivity as part of the design. In order to reduce the hazards associated with liquid wastes including landfill leachate, bentonite-amended natural zeolite is proposed as an alternative to conventional earthen liners. Among many contaminants associated with liquid wastes, heavy metals are the most dangerous ones. This paper deals with determining the ability of natural zeolite to remove heavy metals from aqueous waste. For this purpose, crushed natural zeolite (clinoptinolite) is amended with commercial powdered bentonite to yield a soil mixture low in permeability and high in ion-exchange capacity. Leachate from a conventional landfill is used as the percolation fluid. Concentrations of certain heavy metals in the effluent fluid percolated through the bentonite-zeolite mixture are compared with that of initial leachate. The conclusion is reached that certain metals are efficiently removed from the influent solution by the soil matrix whereas some ions do not show significant reduction in concentration. This is attributed to high hydraulic conductivity of the bentonite-zeolite mixture.     

Analysis of flow behavior in a landfill with cover soil of low hydraulic conductivity

 This paper presents the results of field tests of hydrologic parameters in a landfill and the results of numerical simulation to find the efficiency of the pumping method to reduce leachate levels in the landfill. The field hydraulic conductivity and storativity of waste and buried cover soils in the landfill are measured by pumping and slug tests. The hydrologic condition inside the landfill is first calibrated using the drawdown-time curve obtained from the pumping test, and the flow behavior of leachate during pumping in the landfill, when various layers of waste and buried cover soil exist, is analyzed through three-dimensional numerical simulation of flow. The results of the field investigation show that the buried cover soil of low hydraulic conductivity forms an impermeable layer preventing the downward flow of leachate and upward flow of landfill gas. The hydraulic conductivities of the pumping test and slug tests were quite close on the same order of magnitude. It was also possible to match the drawdown-time data of the field tests with those of the model using input data close to the hydrologic property obtained from the field tests. The numerical flow analysis showed that pumping was possible up to 120 tons/day for a single well without a drain, while the pumping rate could be increased to 300 tons/day for the same well with the drain. From the vertical section of the flow vector with a horizontal drain, the barrier role of buried cover soil is identified, which was proposed by examining the water contents of the disposed cover soil and waste in the field. Received: 15 May 1998 · Accepted: 4 January 1999