Assessing the propensity of landfill soils to undergo reductive iron dissolution

Naturally occurring iron from soil and aquifer sediments at waste disposal sites often becomes liberated into groundwater as a result of reductive dissolution. Research was conducted to evaluate an appropriate procedure for assessing a soil’s propensity to undergo iron reductive dissolution. Soil samples collected from waste disposal sites in Florida were characterized by pH, organic carbon content, total iron content, amorphous iron content, citrate-dithionite-bicarbonate extractable iron, and qualitative X-ray diffraction analysis, followed by a series of extraction tests designed to simulate the reductive dissolution process. Over a 30-day period, biological reducing tests released 13–260 mg/kg Fe(II) from soils, and a chemical reducing test released 2.2–178 mg/kg Fe(II) from soils. Soil amorphous iron content was shown to be the most effective parameter for assessment of iron reductive dissolution potential through standard soil characterization. These results suggest that biological reducing tests may be helpful for assessing long-term soil iron reductive dissolution potential, and that soil amorphous iron content provides a good indication of the potential for a soil to undergo reductive dissolution at a landfill site.