Landfill Site Selection in Trinidad & Tobago

In 1969 it was discovered that the site was leaching due to a lack of a bottom liner. The landfill was leaching volatile organic compounds (VOC), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and explosive landfill gases (LFG).

Prior to the late 1950s the site was used as an excavation pit for sand and gravel. The quarry was subsequently used for the disposal of waste materials from 1950 until 1966. 10 acres of the 28-acre site has been used as a disposal area for several hazardous waste contaminants that included volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, tetrahydrofuran, toluene, vinyl chloride and xylene; other organics such as phenols and PCBs as well as lead. The main area of contamination is in the southern half of the 10 acre area which encompasses about 6 acres which

Assessments began to take place in the mid 1980’s, shortly after the site made the National Priorities list in 1983. Relevant standards and guidance levels were used to measure the effect of the Helen Kramer Landfill. The initiation of the EPA’s remedial investigation and feasibility study deemed the nature of the Helen Kramer landfill as an extreme risk to the environment, characterizing the site “by randomly placed, uncompacted, and uncovered refuse, with numerous settlement cracks which vented methane and water vapor” (2). According to the EPA, several million gallons of chemical wastes and over two million cubic yards of solid waste were estimated to have been disposed of at the landfill (2). Studies were performed by the EPA, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, federal natural resource trustees in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to evaluate the onsite and nearby environmental effects due to the landfill. During these studies, contaminants were detected in air, sediments, and aquifers, including high levels of volatile organic compounds and heavy metals in the air and sediments. VOCS and heavy metals expose humans to carcinogens, developmental toxicants, and reproductive toxicants. The assessments also detected numerous contaminants such as (but not limited to),

The next Superfund that has greatly influenced the environment of Butler County is the Skinner Landfill. The Landfill is on 85 acres in West Chester (2). The facility was privately owned and was never actually licensed, so it closed in the 1970's (5). The landfill contains about 100 drums of chlorinated organics, and heavy metals. Along with the presence of the drums is the fact that a nearby lagoon was once used as a disposal for these contaminants, and that the site had problems with unauthorized dumping (5). Fortunately, no contaminants have been discovered leaving the site (5). The presence of these

waste disposal methods from a single dumpsite, to sorted sites focused on recycling, composting, and

Fresh Kills Landfill, the largest landfill in the world (former), is located in Staten Island, New York. It is a total of 2200 acres where it opened in 1948 and lasted until March of 2001. The initial goal of the landfill was to remain open for five years, yet it was open longer, if not for a few decades. This landfill was one of the dominant landfills for storing garbage collected around New York City.

Within the next five years, the city will be forced to expand the current landfills. The main need for this is a constant output of municipal solid waste. With a sluggish participation rate of only 35% the need to expand that finite space will be inevitable. On the surface this seems like an easy choice, but there has to be

There’s a difference between a dump and a landfill. A dump is a hole in the ground where trash is disposed of. A landfill is a structure built on

The major challenge for both the Gude and Millersville landfills was the threat of contamination from chemical pollution. Neither site managed to escape the stigma associated waste management, however Millersville ultimately had better government intervention and public interest. The Gude landfill is not as fortunate, and also had to contend with the complaints of foul odors emanating from the facility site and permeating the homes of nearby residents. Many homeowners had to endure the smell of rotten eggs, garbage and spoiling fish.

New York City, like most cities across the United Sates utilizes landfills to dispose of their waste. Fresh Kills Landfill opened in 1948 and was only intended to be a temporary landfill used for 20 years, however by 1955 it became the largest landfill in the world as it was turned into New York’s primary dumping ground for the second half of the 20th century. At the peak of operation Fresh Kills was receiving twenty barges carry 650 tons of waste each and every day. In March of 2001 Fresh Kills reached capacity and with the urging of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and local residents it was shut down. That left a big question for the Department of Sanitation as to what to do with New York City and its surrounding boroughs trash? (Fresh Kills Park Alliance)

Since the industrial revolution, packaging materials and organic waste have become more ubiquitous that ever. With 220 million tons of waste being produced each year from the US alone, landfills and other sanitary disposal areas are pushed to maximum capacity. As the organic waste decays, noxious methane gas bubbles to the surface of the rotting piles and pollutes the atmosphere and insecure waste can infiltrate a local lake or aquifer, producing disastrous consequences that the ecosystem simply cannot function with. In an impecunious region of Paraguay, 25,000 families live off the scraps of the Cateura landfill. Asides from its deleterious impacts on the environment, the colossal landfill also contributes toward the poverty and destitution of the local families. Favio Chavez, a musical teacher, opened a small music school in Paraguay in 2007. At the time, he only had five instruments to share. After requesting the service of Nicolas Gomez the orchestra gathered old garbage materials and meticulously assembled a variety of

The United Sates and Canada are some of the top natural resources spots. When they are mined the materials they use heavy machinery which could pollute the land, air, and water around it and leaves rock and other natural material just sitting on the top of the landfills. These landfills should be used as something elsa when they have been mined up with so it is not just left empty.

Landfills are getting bigger and are becoming more of a problem in the U.S because they are hazardous to our health and our environment, but there is a way to stop the villain known as a landfill.

Welcome to K.A.S.S, we have a Hawaii like landform. We chose this location because it is environmentally sound. Our climate is pretty mild and warm. We have about 1500 people population. We have a recycling center, to reduce the amount of waste being put in our landfill. The population of our cites is large because it is well liked. We don’t have any chemicals in our landfill like system. We have a sewage power plant that discards of our trash in a safe way and we reuse it in any way possible. We also have a another way to dispose of our waste that kind of works like a landfill.

My main concern about waste disposal is toward poverty. In every society, for it to work effectively the waste disposal has to be handled properly. The lack of proper waste disposal can contribute for the underdevelopment of the community. For instance, in poorer community that does not have resources to dispose of the trash properly create a series of problems. For example, when there are a lot of trashes in a community, it will prevent investors to invest in a community, the housing market, schools and stores will decline, in consequence the houses will loose its value. This will create a ripple effect because people will start immigrating toward a better place where it is much cleaner. Families will try to move to a better place where their kids can have a better future. I ask myself who wants to live in a dirty environment? I hope nobody. That’s why I believe that the government should help the poorest communities about the ways to handle waste disposal, and better educate them about recycling.