United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Environmental Monitoring
Systems Laboratory
Las Vegas, NV 89193-3478
Research and Development
EPA/600/S4-89/038 Feb. 1990
&EPA Project Summary
Proximity of Louisiana Sanitary
Landfills to Wetlands and
Deepwater Habitats
R.C. Herndon, J.E. Moerlins, V.W. Lambou, and R.L. Gebhard
Sanitary landfills can cause
considerable harm to sensitive eco-
systems if they are not properly
located, designed, and managed. The
purpose of these reports is to
summarize the proximity of sanitary
landfills in the state of Louisiana to
wetlands and deepwater habitats (i.e.,
rivers, lakes, streams, bays, etc.); and
to present data on individual landfills.
The source of data used to determine
the locations of the sanitary landfills
was the computer data file developed
by Development Planning and
Research Associates, Inc. (DPRA) for
use by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Office of Solid
Waste in its RCRA Subtitle D
program. The sanitary landfills were
identified on U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service's National Wetlands Inventory
maps. The nearness or proximity of
the sanitary landfills to wetlands and
deepwater habitats was determined
by drawing three concentric regions
around the point representing the
location of each landfill. The radii of
the concentric regions were: 1/4 mile,
1/2 mile, and 1 mile. Data on 93
individual sanitary landfills in the
state of Louisiana were contained in
the DPRA data file. Data were
obtained for 47 of these landfills
relative to their proximity to wetlands
and deepwater habitats. Most san-
itary landfills in the state of Louisiana
are located in or are close to either
wetlands or deepwater habitats. Most
are located close to wetlands while
almost half are close to deepwater
habitats. These facilities have the
potential to adversely affect sensitive
ecosystems, such as wetlands and
deepwater habitats, either through
habitat alterations or through the
migration of contaminants from
sanitary landfills.
This Project Summary was
developed by EPA's Environmental
Monitoring Systems Laboratory, Las
Vegas, NV, to announce key findings
of the research project that is fully
documented in two separate volumes
of the same title (see Project Report
ordering information at back).
Introduction
Sanitary landfills, as typically defined,
are waste management facilities regu-
lated under Subtitle D of the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
These facilities are commonly referred to
as municipal waste landfills, and they are
primarily used to receive household
refuse and nonhazardous commercial
waste. However, sanitary landfills also
receive other types of Subtitle D waste,
such as sewage sludge and industrial
waste. Sanitary landfills typically receive
some hazardous waste in the form of
household hazardous waste, and
hazardous waste from small quantity
generators as defined in 40 CFR Part
261.10 (Definitions). Depending upon the
definition of a sanitary landfill used by the
individual states, there are between 6,500
and 9,300 of these facilities permitted in
the United States.
Sanitary landfills can cause con-
siderable harm to sensitive ecosystems if
they are not properly located, designed,
and managed. These facilities have the
potential to adversely affect sensitive
ecosystems, such as wetlands and
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deepwater habitats, either through habitat
alterations or through the migration of
contaminants from sanitary landfills. In
order to evaluate the seriousness of this
problem, information is needed on the
nearness of sanitary landfills to wetlands
and surface water bodies. The purpose
of this study is to document the proximity
of sanitary landfills in the state of
Louisiana to wetlands and deepwater
habitats (i.e., rivers, lakes, streams, bays,
etc.).
Methodology
The source of data used to determine
the locations of the sanitary landfills was
the compufer data file developed by
Development Planning and Research
Associates, Inc., (DPRA) for use by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
Office of Solid Waste in its RCRA Subtitle
D program. The DPRA data file includes
information on 7,683 sanitary landfills,
and 6,849 of these facilities have latitude
and longitude coordinates in degrees,
minutes, and seconds specified in the
data file. Each set of coordinates defines
a point which represents the geographic
location of a sanitary landfill. In addition,
the data file contains the names of the
landfills and data on the cities or counties
in which the landfills reside. Individual
states are responsible for permitting
sanitary landfills under Subtitle D of
RCRA, and, since DPRA obtained the
information for the data file from state
sources, the site location information
varies in terms of accuracy and the point
chosen to represent the location of each
facility.
Wetlands typically form part of a
continuous transition zone between
uplands and open water. Therefore, the
delineation of the upper and lower
boundaries in any wetland definition is
somewhat arbitrary. There are a number
of definitions of wetlands that have been
developed for use in classifying natural
environments or for regulatory purposes.
While these definitions are not identical,
they are very similar. The selection of a
specific definition for use in this study
was determined by the availability of
national wetlands and deepwater habitats
geographic data.
The most extensive, consistent source
of wetlands and deepwater habitats
geographic data is the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service's National Wetlands
Inventory (NWI). The NWI has developed
detailed, large-scale maps for a
significant portion of the United States.
To date, wetland maps have been
developed for approximately 40 percent
of the contiguous 48 states, 10 percent of
Alaska, and all of Hawaii. Large-scale
NWI maps typically are either 1:24,000
scale or 1:63,360 scale U.S. Geological
Survey quadrangle maps; however, most
are 1:24,000 scale. Wetlands and
deepwater habitats are delineated on the
NWI maps. The delineation of wetlands
and deepwater habitats was developed
using remote sensing techniques and
field investigations. The NWI maps are
developed in accordance with the
National Map Accuracy Standard
(NMAS). The NWI 1:24,000 scale maps
used in this study are accurate,
according to the NMAS, to within 40 feet
of ground measurements. These maps
were particularly useful for plotting the
location of sanitary landfills and for deter-
mining the proximity of these facilities to
wetlands and deepwater habitats.
The NWI maps use the definitions and
the classification system for wetlands and
deepwater habitats developed by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wetlands
are defined as lands transitional between
terrestrial and aquatic systems where the
water table is usually at or near the
surface, or the land is covered by shallow
water. Deepwater habitats are defined as
permanently flooded lands lying below
the deepwater boundary of wetlands.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
classification of wetlands and deepwater
habitats is hierarchial in nature pro-
ceeding from general to specific. There
are 5 systems, 10 subsystems, and 55
classes. In this study only the "system,''
i.e., the complex of wetlands and
deepwater habitats that share the
influence of similar hydrologic, geomor-
phologic, chemical, or biological factors,
was used for classification purposes.
In order to link the location of sanitary
landfills in the DPRA data file to the
appropriate NWI maps, we used the
information on the T-70 computer tape
obtained from the U.S. Geological
Survey. The NWI large-scale maps were
developed using U.S. Geological
Survey's quadrangle maps as base
maps. The T-70 computer tape contains
67 fields of information including latitude
and longitude that can be used for
identifying the 1:24,000 scale maps, the
map names, and the state codes
assigned to the maps. Sanitary landfill
location data on the DPRA computer file
tape were matched by a computer
program against location data on the U.S.
Geological Survey's T-70 computer tape
in order to identify the specific maps that
contain sanitary landfills and/or that would
be needed to evaluate the wetlands and
deepwater habitats that are within 1 mile
of each sanitary landfill. The map names
obtained from the computer mate
were sorted by state and compared
inventories of available NWI maps.
Each sanitary landfill included in
study was located on NWI large-s
maps using standard cartograi
techniques. Nearness or proximity
sanitary landfills to wetlands and d
water habitats was determined
drawing three concentric regions arc
the point representing the locatioi
each landfill. The radii of the conce
regions were: 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile, ar
mile. The occurrence or nonoccum
of the wetlands and deepwater ha
systems in each concentric region
then recorded.
Many sanitary landfills are typical!
the order of 100 acres in size.
example, in the state of Florida abot
percent of the active sanitary landfills
between 50 and 150 acres in size,
the average size being 110 acre;
landfill that is 100 acres in size
uniformly distributed about its latit
longitude point designation will hav
radius of approximately 1/4 mile
therefore, will approximate the boun
of the first concentric 1/4-mile ra
region. Undoubtedly, most of the lam
located in a 1/4-mile radius re>
containing either wetlands or deepv
habitats should be considered to
located in wetlands or deepw
habitats. Since landfills vary consider
in size and shape, some of the lani
located in the 1/2-mile radius and 1-
radius regions containing wetland;
deepwater habitats will probably als<
located in wetlands or deepw
habitats. The exact geographic boun
of the landfill is not the crit
consideration for determining adv
impacts associated with these facili
since contaminants can migrate off-sil
affect wetlands and deepwater habitat
Results
We obtained data on the proximit
47 sanitary landfills in the state
Louisiana to wetlands and deepw
habitats. There are 93 sanitary landfil
the DPRA data file for the state
Louisiana and 47 (51 percent) of tl
facilities have NWI maps available for
interpretation. As a result, 46 (50 perc
of the 93 sanitary landfills in the stat
Louisiana are not included in this stud
Approximately 79 percent of
sanitary landfills are located in or w
1/4 mile of wetlands, while 87 and
percent are located in or within 1/2 ai
mile of wetlands, respectively (Figure
Only three (6 percent) of the landfills
located more than a mile from any
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of wetland. Most sanitary landfills are
located either in or are close to Palustrine
wetlands (approximately 72, 83, and 92
percent are located in or within 1/4, 1/2,
and 1 mile, respectively, of a Palustrine
wetland).
Approximately 32 percent of the
sanitary landfills are located in or within
1/4 mile of deepwater habitats, while 47
and 66 percent are located in or within
1/2 and 1 mile of deepwater habitats,
respectively (Figure 2). Sixteen (34
percent) of the landfills are located more
than a mile from any type of deepwater
habitat. Most of the facilities that are
located in or that are close to deepwater
habitats are in the vicinity of Riverine or
Estuarine deepwater habitats (i.e., 60
percent are located in or within 1 mile of
a Riverine deepwater habitat and 19
percent are located in or within 1 mile of
an Estuarine deepwater habitat).
Approximately 81 percent of the
sanitary landfills are located in or within
1/4 mile of either wetlands or deepwater
habitats, while 89 and 96 percent are
located in or within 1/2 and 1 mile of
either wetlands or deepwater habitats,
respectively (Figure 3). Only two (4 per-
cent) of the landfills are located more
than a mile from either wetlands or
deepwater habitats. Most of the sanitary
landfills are located either in or are close
to Palustrine or Riverine habitats (approx-
imately 72, 83, and 92 percent are
located in or within 1/4, 1/2, and 1 mile,
respectively, of a Palustrine deepwater
habitat while approximately 21, 36, and
60 percent are located in or within 1/4,
1/2, and 1 mile, respectively, of a
Riverine habitat).
Coding procedures used to compile the
data on the proximity of waste sites to
wetlands and deepwater habitats are
given in the "Data on Individual Landfills"
report. Appendix B of that report presents
the data on the individual landfills in the
state of Louisiana.
Conclusions
Most sanitary landfills included in the
state of Louisiana are located either in or
close to wetlands. From this, we
conclude that these facilities have the
potential to adversely affect sensitive
ecosystems, such as wetlands, either
through habitat alterations or through the
migration of contaminants from sanitary
landfills. In addition, more than half of the
sanitary landfills in the state of Louisiana
are located either in or close to deep-
water habitats and they also have the
potential for adversely affecting these
sensitive ecosystems.
Palustrine
Lacustrine
Riverine
Estuarine
Marine
All
systems
92
72
In or within 1 mile
In or within 1/2 mile
In or within 1/4 mile
94
I
20
I
40
60
Percent
80
100
Figure 1. Proximity of 47 Louisiana sanitary landfills to wetlands.
15
Lacustrine
Riverine
Estuarine
Marine
All
systems
60
In or within 1 mile
In or within 1/2 mile
In or within 1/4 mile
66
Percent
60
80
100
Figure 2. Proximity of 47 Louisiana sanitary landfills to deepwater habitats.
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Palustrine
60
92
83
EJ
Estuarine
Marine
All
systems
In or within 1 mile
In or within 1/2 mile
In or within 1/4 mile
100
Percent
Figure 3. Proximity of 47 Louisiana sanitary landfills to either closest wetlands or deepwater habitat.
The EPA author, Victor 9f. Lambou, (also the EPA Project
Officer, see below) is with the Environmental
Monitoring Systems Laboratory in Las Vegas, NV
89193-3478; J.E. Moerlins and R.C. Herndon are with
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306; and
R.L. Gebhard is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, St. Petersburg, FL 33702
The complete report, two volumes entitled "Proximity of
Louisiana Sanitary Landfills to Wetlands and
Deepwater Habitats: Statewide Results," and
"Proximity of Louisiana Sanitary Landfills to Wetlands
and Deepwater Habitats: Data on Individual Landfills,"
(Orders No. PB S/OfSO 814; Cost: $15.00, and PB 90-150 806
Cost: $15.00 subject to change) will be available onl
from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Las Vegas, NV 89193-3478
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EPA/600/S4-89/038
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