RCRA Resource Guide No. I
                                                                                       environmental
                                                                                              actior
                                                                                          foundation
                                        solid
                                        waste
                                        project
       LANDFILLS:
   LEFTOVERS'  LEGACY
   It's time to  face the facts.  Source separation, resource
recovery,  and  waste reduction can significantly alleviate our
solid waste woes, but there's no way around it: at least 60 to
70 percent of  our wastes will still need to be disposed of—and
the vast majority of them will end up on the land. Because of
this, well  placed, well managed landfills are a vitally important
part of the total solid waste management picture, and  will be
into the forseeable future.
   While there  certainly are many competently managed  landfill
sites throughout the nation, too often these are the exception,
rather than the rule. Take what happened in Rockford,  Illinois,
where noxious liquid from the local landfill seeped through the
soil and mixed with nearby ground water. A problem was first
noticed when four industrial drinking wells were fouled  beyond
use and subsequently were abandoned in 1966.  In the following
years further ground water contamination forced four residential
wells to be abandoned (1970) and a public well  to close  (1972).
In addition, potentially explosive methane gas produced by the
decomposing wastes migrated into a nearby industrial plant and
also into thejDublic well. The landfill finally was closed in 1972.
   As similar reports flow in from across the country, the extent
of the problem begins to be  revealed. According to the U.S.
Environmental   Protection Agency  (EPA),  a  1974 survey of
ground water pollution in the Northeast alone pinpointed land-
fills as the culprit in some 100 cases. Depending on the types of
waste present,  the local environmental impact may range from a
slight tainting  of natural  ground water quality to the concen-
tration of high amounts of potent chemicals, heavy metals, and
radioactive wastes.

   lhat's  just part of the story. Because ground water moves so
slowly—often less than two feet per day—it may take years or
even decades for the befouled water to inch its way from the
disposal site to a drinking water supply. Since almost every
known incident of grpund water pollution was  discovered only
after the  pollutants had  infiltrated an  actively used drinking
water  supply,  we can expect  many morp such reports in the
future as the impact  of  decades of careless waste disposal
catches up with us.
   The degree of ground  water pollution is alarming, for we
depend upon this hidden resource far more than most people
realize. Over  half of the population derives its drinking water
from this fresh-water source and it supplies some 94 percent of
the drinking water in rural areas. The silent seepage from waste
disposal  sites is particularly destructive because once a subter-
ranean water passageway  (called an aquifer) is contaminated,
it remains contaminated for  many years. It may take decades,
centuries, or  even longer, for the aquifer to cleanse itself, even
after the source of contamination has been removed.
WHERE THE GARBAGE GOES

   The problem starts  when  last  week's uneaten  dinner is
lumped together with a vast array of other wastes which may
include  industrial  processing wastes, septic tank pumpings,
and potent  industrial sludges.  Once deposited at the landfill,
the unsavory mixture of pepperoni and plastics, broken glass
and old oaint, weed killers and  defunct toasters  begins to
undergo biological  and  chemical changes.  Bacteria attack the
organic  wastes,  and  chemical  reactions take  place. As the
materials slowly break  down, they produce two main  end
products: leachate and gases.
   Leachate  is the  technical name for the liquid formed when
rain and moisture inside the landfill seep through the decom-
posing garbage, picking  up various minerals, organic materials,
and chemicals as they go. If dangerous chemicals are present,
this fluid may become  a witch's brew of hazardous materials
including cyanide, cadmium, chromium, chlorinated hydrocar
bons, and/or other toxic chemicals.
   The extent of damage caused by the leachate will be deter
mined by how well  the landfill is sited and operated. If the land
fill is poorly placed, rain may wash some of the contaminated
effluent into nearby streams. Often, much  of the leachate will
percolate down through-the garbage and soil. Although the soil
can absorb  some of it-a property called attenuaf/on-almost
inevitably some of the liquid will continue to filter downwards.
If the landfill lies abnve an aquifer or close to the water table.

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the leachate will probably pollute the water; the degree of pol-
lution will depend upon the quantity and composition of the
contaminated liquid.
   Methane and carbon  dioxide  are  the  most common gases
produced  by the interaction of microbes and organic wastes in
the absence of air.  Methane, the more worrisome of the two,
can  be  a  local  troublemaker  if  it accumulates and  explodes
within the landfill or travels through the soil, ror example,
methane gas from a landfill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, migrated
through the soil  into  the back  yards  and  basements of  28
houses  adjacent to the disposal  site.  It was  responsible for
causing two house fires in  1971  and for killing  back yard vege-
tation.  Further investigations  revealed the  presence  of  high
concentrations of  the  combustible  gas in the soil  beneath the
crawl space of most of the nearby houses.
   The  potential for leachate pollution and methane migration
exists at every solid waste disposal site. How much of a problem
materializes depends  upon the type  of wastes being disposed
of, where the disposal site is, and how the wastes are handled.

   1 here's  no  doubt  that solid  waste  management took  a
major stride  forward in the  1960's  with the  widespread
adoption of landfills—particularly in urban areas. Unfortunately,
this  has not proven  to  be the simple panacea we had hoped
for,  in  part  because  the pollution problems have proved far
more subtle  than  we first  imagined,  but  more  importantly
because landfills seldom are located  or run as tney should be.
   The  story  behind the  Rockford,  Illinois  incident  that we
mentioned earlier  is typical. Beginning in 1947, an  old sand and
gravel pit  was  used for the open dumping of residential,  com-
mercial, and  industrial wastes, including large amounts of metal
finishings and foundry wastes. Little care was taken in handling
the refuse, much of which was placed near to or directly in the
ground water that surfaced in the  pit. When the site was con-
verted to a "sanitary" landfill in the early 1960's, little more
was done than to  apply a daily soil cover. As a result, although
the garbage was much better protected from the wind, rain, rats,,
and vermin, the landfill still leaked like a sieve.
   Prompted by a  combination of  ignorance and  convenience,
many other communities did  exactly  the  same  when  they
switched to landfilling their wastes. Instead of relocating poorly
placed  disposal sites  or  significantly  upgrading  them,  local
leaders  converted  their  open dumps to landfills  simply  by
covering over the daily  refuse additions. Out of sight, out of
mind, in aadition, newer landfill sites usually are chosen on the
      of political  viability and economic convenience and not
on good siting practices, with the result that all too often tf
are located close to the water table or on  the wrong 'k
jf land
   Tne  adverse environmental impacts of bad  siting frequen
are compounded by inadequate landfill  design and operati<
According  to a  1976 nationwide survey, only about  one-th
of  the   15,893  known land  disposal  sites  were  "licens(
permitted,  or otherwise recognized"  as being  in complian
with state regulations for sanitary landfills.
RIGHTING REFUSE WRONGS


   Although great strides have been made in solid waste managi
ment in recent years, from the national standpoint existing stal
regulation remains a patchwork effort. While some states hav
strict laws governing a wide variety  of disposal methods, other
have lax standards and fail to cover all types ot disposal. Reco<
nizing  the need to address  the problem more thoroughly on
national level, Congress  passed the Resource Conservation  ani
Recoverv Act  (RCRA)  in  October,  1976. This Act require
EPA to establish minimum standards for the environmental!'
sound  disposal  of all solid wastes, it calls on the states to adop
these standards and to develop comprehensive  plans for soli(
waste  management. Through  a combination   of  regulations
guidelines,  technical assistance, and  federal  dollars,  EPA  wil
work with the states to make RCRA a reality.
   RCRA expands the federal  role  in solid waste management
in two major ways. First, it broadens  EPA's focus and jurisdic-
tion by defining solid  waste to include  a wide  array of muni-
cipal and industrial solids, sludges,  liquids, and  gaseous wastes.
Secondly, it brings hazardous  wastes  under regulatory control
for the first time.
   Two of the most important  sections of the Act are Subtitle
C which addresses hazardous waste management, and S'ubtitle
D which focuses  on  overall  waste  management.  Subtitle C
requires EPA  to   develop a  "cradle-to-grave" program  for
tracking and carefully  controlling hazardous wastes from their
origin  to disposal.  EPA must  develop a long  list  of specific
regulations  that must  be met by those  who produce, handle,
store,  transport, treat,  and dispose  of hazardous wastes. In
addition,  the  Agency  must   establish  guidelines  for state
hazardous waste programs.  If states do  not adopt a similar or
more stringent program,  EPA is legally responsible for enforcing
the federal regulations.

   Subtitle   D is the cornerstone of  the Act,  for  it calls on
both EPA and the states to tackle the problem of overall solid
waste  management.  Specifically, if a state wishes to  receive
federal  funding for waste  management, it  must  develop an
EPA-approved plan for comprehensive solid waste management.
At a minimum this  clan must  include a ban on open dumping
(as defined  by  tPA),  a compliance  schedule  for closing or
upgrading existing  open  dumps, and provisions for resource
conservation, resource recovery,  disposal in  sanitary landfills,
or  any combination thereof "necessary to use or dispose of
...waste  in   a  manner  that is  environmentally  sound."  Other
specific requirements are outlm^ in the Act.
   EPA is required to issue criteria tor defining what constitutes
acceptable  land disposal practices.  Conversely,  any solid waste

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disposal facility that does not meet these standards is an open
dump and fe prohibited by  federal law. (See  box, page 3, for
details.)  A  year after  publication of  the "landfill  criteria"
EPA must publish  an inventory  of the nation's open dumps.
All existing open  dumps  must either be closed or placed on
a compliance schedule and upgraded within 5 years
   Soon  your state governor should  be designating a regional
planning group that  will be responsible  for developing  and
implementing your state plan. This group, or possibly your state
solid waste agency, will be responsible for conducting the open
dump inventory during the next year or so.
 Wha
     nat does RCRA mean to you? It means that considerable
improvements will be made in our nation's solid waste manage-
ment. Properly implemented, it means that all states will adopt
good solid waste management plans, that the bad siting of land-
fills will end, and that our sanitary landfills really will pose little
danger to public health and the environment.
   But how  can we make sure that hazardous wastes are safely
handled? How can we make certain that  landfills are properly
sited and operated? Who will foot the bill  for sound solid waste
disposal?
   Despite its noble intentions, the act will  mean little if it is
not enforced. For starters, that means adequate financial and
technical assistance must begin to come through from the federal
government  to the state and local  levels. It also means that citi-
zens shouldbecome involved  from the beginning. Specifically,
             THE LANDFILL CRITERIA

    Officially  they  are  billed  as  "The  Criteria  for  the
  Classification   of  Solid Waste  Disposal  Facilities;"  more
  informally they are called "The Landfill Criteria." Whichever
  name  you  use, these Criteria are important for they will
  describe what conditions land disposal facilities must meet
  to be considered "sanitary landfills" under RCRA. Required
  by Section 4004 (under Subtitle D) of  RCRA, they will
  apply   to   all  solid  waste  disposal  facilities  (including
  traditional  landfills, industrial  disposal  sites,  and sewage
  sludge  landspreading  operations).  Any  disposal  facility
  that does not measure up to the Criteria will be considered
  an open dump in violation of Federal law.
    Now available in proposed  form (and open foi public
  comment), the Criteria cover:
    • environmentally sensitive areas such  as  wetlands. 100
  year flood plains, critical habitats and others;
    • ground water, surface water, and air emissions;
    • land  application of sewage sludge including specifics
  on cadmium   application,  pH  control, pathogen content,
  and other factors
    • disease-causing aaents;
    • safety issues including explosive and toxic gases, tires,
  bird hazards to aircraft, and others.
    EPA does   not have authority to enforce the finalized
  criteria unless the  states  wish  to receive federal  funding
  (in which   case they  must  be adopted).  However, citizen
  suites   can  be  filed in federal  district court  against any
  facility that fails to meet the criteria  because  that facility
  is violating  federal  law.   (See  Section  7002  of RCRA
  regarding the procedure for filing a citizen suit.)
                                                                 RCRA provides an opportunity for public input throughout the
                                                                 entire planning process-at both the state and federal level. Your
                                                                 state planning  process should  include specific  provisions for
                                                                 public participation to enable you to say something about how
                                                                 your garbage is handled.  Citizens have been given some clout,
                                                                 too  under tne citizen suit provision  of tnp  law. If your state
                                                                 refuses  to close its  open dumps, you  can force the  matter
                                                                 into the federal courtroom.  (See our Garbage Guide "Citizens
                                                                 in Action" for a discussion of public participation and RCRA.)
                                                                 LANDFILLS, RCRA, AND YOU
   We  urge you to directly participate both locally and at the
state level. Here are some pointers on what you can do.
On the local scene.  First, it is important to be aware of the com-
olexities of the problem. Prof.>;r siting is absolutely crucial to
running a safe and successful lanofill. This means citizens should
monitor the siting process from the beginning, and be ready to
deal with landfill placement on the basis of what is best for the
environment. Our garbage is a problem that won't go "away"—
and by pushing a landfill away t-om a choice spot because it is
aesthetically  unappealing is a  sure way to make the disposal
dilemma worse.
   Until  the   EPA  landfill crirsiia  are published  and  specific
technical guidelines are  issued on how to meet them, here is the
best available  information  on  what to  look  for  if  your
community  is  about to buy  land for a landfill. Try to make
sure that:

   • it is located at a safe distance from rivers, lakes, wells, and
other water sources;
   • it has  no  direct  hydrologic  connection  to  any nearby
ground water  (a  professional hydrologist  should  survey it);
   • it is not located in a wetlands area or a flood plain. A dis-
posal   facility  located   in either of these  places  can  be very
destructive to the local  habitat and greatly increases the chances
of erosion and flooding.
   * it is thoroughly surveyed  to determine the types of soil
present, the geologic conditions—i.e. the physical and chemical
properties of the bedrock as  they  relate to the movement of
water and gas—soil permeability, and soil workability.

   In addition, you should insist on careful landfill oper   on:
   •   wastes  should never  be placed  directly in  ground or
surface waters; doing so  invites pollution problems;
   •    a daily  soil cover   should  always  be  placed over
unprocessed  wastes. When tightly compacted,  the  soil cover
will minimize  the  amount  of snow,  rain,  and surface runoff
that infiltrate the fill, as well  as eliminate rats and other pests.
Although the amount of cover needed will vary  according to
the amount  of rainfall  in a given  area-it's less of a problem
in  New Mexico than  in  Maine—EPA  itself recommends "a
compacted earth cover  of at least 6 inches in thickness applied
daily...for preventing the emergence of flies and for discouraging
rodents from burrowing through the fill."
   • the daily soil cover should be sloped to encourage runoff
to  drain away from the landfill. If  needed, suitable drainage
should be provided to carry this runoff to a collection site where.

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it can be tested and treated to remove contaminants before its
release into the environment-
   • cover material should be compactable, workable, relatively
impermeable, and  present in sufficient  quantity  (20 to 25
percent  of the  fill should be soil cover). According  to  EPA
"if  gravel  is  fairly well graded and contains 10 to 15 percent
or more fines, it can make an excellent cover."
   •  precautionary measures should be taken to prevent gases
from concentrating in sewers or other structures located on or
near the landfill.  Since  methane gas leaves the landfill along
the path of least resistance, it  is important to be aware of
any  natural  geological  formations  or  artificial paths-such
as  pipes—that will  encourage  lateral  migration. Some ways
to control and vent gases include gravel filled trenches, vented
standing pipes, and  impermeable barriers—such  as clay—placed
around the landfill perimeter;
   • subsurface drains and ditches should be used to intercept
leachate;
   • monitoring and periodic sampling of ground water should
be part of any landfill operation.
   • the landfill should be closed once it is full, and the wastes
should  be buried  in  a  new sanitary  landfill.  This common-
sense rule often is ignored as officials postpone chosina  new,
often controversial, disposal sites.

  finally, you should be aware  that maintenance is important
once the landfill closes down.  If your town landfill has  been
filled to the  brim, check out what the town council has planned
in the way of upkeep and monitoring.
   • The surface of the landfill should be periodically regraded
to maintain good drainage.
   •  Any small depressions that develop should be filled. If
this is not done, water  that accumulates in these  depressions
may seep into the fill and cause leachate problems.
   •  Because  it takes about 15 years lor a landfill to finally
settle and because  of  the potential for gas problems, construc-
tion of buildings  on  completed landfills should be avoided,
and care should be exercised in building near them

On the state level. Take advantage of your right to participate in
the development of your state plan. Contact your state solid waste
management agency for specific information on how to help.
   Why  should you be involved? Because it's your water and air
that are at stake-and you are paying for it with your taxes and
your  health.  As Mark Sullivan, Solid Waste  Director of the
National Wildlife Federation puts it: "If any disposal system is
going to work, you're going to have to participate in it, and
you'll end up paying for it; you should be concerned with getting
the most efficient system you can."
   Landfills aren't  bad, but poorly sited and  poorly managed
ones threaten us all. Your participation can make a difference!
                     RESOURCES

   Although the following publications are old, fairly technical,
and a bit dry, they will give you a good idea of what goes into
making  a  good sanitary landfill. This is the best information
available at this time.

Sanitary Landfill Facts is the oldest but most readable of the
lot. Order  number 47.

Sanitary Landfill Design & Operation contains a good discussion
of the waste problem. It is technical, but gives a thorough and
readable presentation of the subject. Order number 287.

Decision-Makers  Guide in Solid Waste  Management, second
edition, devotes pages 109 - 117 to a brief discussion of  land-
filling techniques. Order number 500.

   The  above can  be ordered  by writing to: Solid Waste
Information,    U.S.   Environmental   Protection   Agency,
Cincinnati, OH 45268.

   For  more information about  RCRA  and landfills,  write
to   the  Technical   Information  Communications  Branch
(WH-562), Office of Solid Waste, U.S.  Environmental Protec-
tion Agency, Washington. D. C. 20460.
    The Environmental Action Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt
 citizens' organization devcted to research and education on a variety
 of en vironm en tal issues.
    The Solid Waste Project is an information clearinghouse and
 citizens'communication network.  The Garbage Guide /* produced by
 the project staff: Lois  Florence,  Elizabeth Tennant, and Merchant
 Wentworth.
                                                               Reprinted with  permission of the
                                                               Environmental Action  Foundation.
                                                               U.S.  EPA, 1979.
                                                 environmental  action   foundatic

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