Urbanization and the Geoenvironment - Sustainable Practices in Geoenvironmental Engineering - page 230

(a)

200,000

160,000

120,000

80,000

40,000

0

Total
solids

Specific conductivity
(µS/cm)

BOD5 COD

Component

(b)

20,000

16,000

12,000

8000

4000

0

SO 2- HCO -

Org
N

Cl Na K NH 4 -N Ca Mg Fe Mn Zn

Component

FIGURE 7.6
(a, b) Range of selected components found in landill leachate. (Adapted from data reported by Kjeldsen, P. et al.,
Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology 32: 297-336, 2002.)

biogas is produced by a tonne of MSW (Genske, 2003). Volatile solvents, paints, and other
chemicals such as toluene, phenol, ethyl-benzene, naphthalene, vinyl chloride, methylene
chloride, xylene, and chloroform, will also evaporate. Dissolution processes involve chemi-
cal reactions between the various constituents in a wastepile, the end result of which will
be transformed products and leachates. Hazardous waste dumping in the Love Canal in
Niagara Falls, USA, in the 1940s and 1950s and subsequent use of the site as a hazardous
waste landill resulted in a situation (LaGrega et al., 1994), where the public was exposed
to dioxin and other chemical fumes. Investigation of the many illnesses arising from the
exposure showed that the chemicals causing the illnesses were neurotoxins, teratogens,
fetotoxins, carcinogens, pulmonary toxins, and hepatoxins (Bridges, 1991).
Another case of illegal dumping of industrial wastes occurred on the island of Teshima
in Japan, which had a low population of residents (Takatsuki, 2003). From 1978, a com-
pany was allowed to dispose of nonhazardous wastes on the island. However, because of