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:

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                             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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