Landfill Impact Assessment

I was just reading Landfill Impact Assessment report.  The report went to great lengths evaluating dust, noise, landfill gas, and odours.  It included a brief discussion on litter impact.  The study effort included a great deal of work using dispersion models that used climate and wind data, topography and so on to determine what impact, if any, there would be on nearby receptors.   The authors took great efforts to determine waste quantities for the next 35 years, modelled landfill gas emissions, conducted traffic flow assessments, and measured odour emissions from the existing landfill



The Blowing Litter Impact Assessment reported the following information:

Distance from landfill perimeter	Finding	Impact category
0 - 500m	50% of escaping litter remains in this area	Medium
500 – 1000 m	Remaining 50% retained in this area	Low
Beyond 1000 m	Very little escapes beyond this distance	None

This information was said to have been taken from a 'previous report' by RWDI (2002).  I did an internet search in an attempt to find the original source of this information, but was unsuccessful (so far).  I could not determine if this referenced report was related to the existing landfill at this location.  


A second table that was referenced to RWDI (2002) is said to be a study conducted in wind tunnels on "threshold speeds for various categories of wind-blown litter".   Again, I tried to find the original source of this information, so I don't know how this study was done.  Did it replicate waste in a pile, or did it replicate waste dropping from an unloading vehicle?  I would assume that we would see different results between the two scenarios. 

Wind speed range	Litter description	Impact category
0 – 22 km/h	No blowing litter	None
22 – 33 km/h	Newsprint, tissue, paper towel, some light bond paper	Light
33 – 47 km/h	All the above plus plastic bags, small boxes, small cardboard tubes, paper bags, plastic sheets.	Moderate
Above 47 km/h	All the above plus extensive heavy bond paper	heavy

The authors of the report suggested that the average annual wind speed 10 metres above the ground is 8.6 km/hr, and that it would be about 2.3 km/hr at the 2 metre level.  The authors then concluded that for the majority of wind velocities at the landfill, blowing litter would not occur.  This conclusion was based on the following table.

Table L2.34 - Frequency of Occurrence of Blowing Litter with Wind Speed
Speed range km/h	Annual frequency (%)
0 – 22	94.0
22 – 33	5.8
33 – 47	0.2
47+	<0.1

One can see if you connect all the dots using this information, you would come to a similar conclusion.    The authors further concluded that because most of the landfill operations will be below ground, this would further reduce wind-blown litter.   Recommendations suggested the litter mitigation should include, covering waste haul vehicles, daily cover of the working face, portable wind fences, improving vegetated lands buffering the landfill, educate the public about plastic bags, regular inspections and litter clean up. 


This evaluation is probably fairly typical of impact assessment studies. Litter issues usually don't get the same level of effort as other 'emissions' from landfills, even though litter is probably the most visible immission.  This may be because it is assumed that litter controls are very basic, such as cover, fencing, and cleaning up, that there's little need to do a complete evaluation.  Granted, because litter is visible and accessible, it is easier to respond to that a groundwater or gaseous emission impact.   I do think that landfill planners and engineers do need to give more attention to litter control and prevention.  They usually leave that up to the landfill manager and operators.   


I will admit, there may be more information available on specific litter controls in detailed operation plans.  At this time, I don't have that information. 


You can see the original report by going to the following link. 


https://muskoka.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentDisplay.aspx?ID=5002

Evolution of Landfills in the 20th Century

You might think this is an odd title for this blog entry because it refers to the 20th Century.    We could go back to the beginning of time and talk about a time when the human population was nomadic and disposal of waste was as natural as it is in the animal population.  I wanted to focus on modern history rather than ancient history for the evolution of landfills. 

 This photograph shows a typical municipal dump site that existed in Western Canada well into the 1980's.  At one time, the Health Departments even encouraged burning of wastes as it was thought to be more sanitary.   Burning, of course, created its own health issues and environmental problems.  In the early part of the 20th century, our waste products mostly contained wood products, metals, food wastes, some paper products and so on.  Plastics started to become more prominent in the 1950's and by the 1980's, our waste were a much more complex mix that included plastics, chemicals, and other commercial products.  

Burning of waste in an open trench is incomplete in comparison to incineration in a highly technical waste to energy facility.  Incomplete burning emits toxic smoke that includes dioxins and furans, and can impact the health of the population around the site.  

During that time, the most common complaints about the 'open dumps' had to do with burning.  Residents complaint of the smoke and the smell. 

 Because open burning became a problem issue, Health & Environmental agencies then began to pressure municipalities to stop burning.  The pressure came through education and by enforcement actions in some cases.  

The consequences of not burning without changing the fundamental way in which we operated the old dump sites was often ignored.   With the uncovered waste piling up in the open trenches, the rotting waste caused odour, insect, and animal nuisances.  Leachate issues were still ignored.  Disposal trenches filled rapidly because waste was not being compacted.    Litter issues became a much larger issue, and complaints about uncontrolled blowing litter became the top public complaint issue. 

Fortunately, Health and Environmental agencies and municipalities took action to develop engineered landfills and developed proper landfill operating plans and procedures.  The landfills were not only designed better, but they were also equipped better.  Landfill operators were better trained  and their job status gained respectability. 


Still, even with these improvements made over the past several years in landfill design and operation, litter issues remained in many cases.  

Managing litter issues at a landfill involves a variety of control techniques that includes, covered loads on hauling vehicles,  waste handling and compaction,  litter control fences, wind shelter, and effective litter retrieval programs.  Some landfills also have limits on waste receipts in high wind conditions. 

In future blog entries, I will explain many of these techniques. 

Understanding Global Winds

For a landfill operator to become insightful towards effective litter control, he needs to pay attention to and understand wind patterns around the landfill.  But, we'll start with explaining a few basics about global wind patterns.

The wind patterns around the earth has something to do with the coriolis effect, which has to do with the rotation of the earth. In most of North America, global winds are generally blowing from west to east, and most of our weather systems move west to east.  Think of which direction most of our summer storms come from.

In tropical climates, the trade winds are generally blowing towards the east.   Weather systems in the tropics tend to move from east to west.  Think of the direction that hurricanes and cyclones move around the globe.  



Regional wind patterns are influenced by high and low pressure zones.  The air moves in circular patterns around these pressure areas.   Winds will blow clockwise around high pressure zones, and counter clockwise around low pressure zones.   The direction of the wind where you are depends on where you sit within these high and low pressure areas. 

Understanding these basic wind patterns can be useful in planning the layout of a landfill development with consideration of prevailing winds, and by paying attention to local and regional weather systems, the operator can adjust daily operations and litter controls according to weather forecasts. 

Much of this information can be obtained from local weather stations.  In Canada, you can go online and log on to Environment Canada and get up to date weather information. 

In forthcoming posts, I will discuss regional wind patterns that are influenced by geography.