United States
 Environmental Protection
 Agency	
Environmental Monitoring
Systems Laboratory
Las Vegas. NV 89193-3478
 Research and Development
EPA/600/S4-89/048 Mar. 1990
 Project Summary

 Proximity of  Georgia Sanitary
 Landfills  to  Wetlands and
 Deepwater  Habitats

 J.E. Moerlins , R.C. Herndon, 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 Georgia 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 198
individual sanitary  landfills in the
state of Georgia  were  contained in
the DPRA  data file. Data  were
obtained  for 24  of these landfills
relative to their proximity to wetlands
and deepwater habitats.  Most  san-
itary landfills In the  state of Georgia
are located in or  are close to either
wetlands or deepwater habitats.  Most
are located close to wetlands while
approximately one-third are close to
deepwater habitats. These facilities
have the potential to adversely affect
sensitive  ecosystems, such as wet-
lands 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.

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  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
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 Georgia
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  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  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
determining  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 t
in or.der to identify the specific maps
contain sanitary landfills and/or that we
be needed to evaluate the wetlands
deepwater habitats that are within 1 r
of each  sanitary landfill. The map nar
obtained from  the  computer match
were sorted by state and compared v
inventories of available NWI maps.
  Each  sanitary landfill  included  in <
study was  located  on NWI  large-sc
maps  using  standard cartograp
techniques. Nearness or  proximity
sanitary landfills to  wetlands and de
water  habitats was determined
drawing three concentric  regions aroi
the  point  representing  the location
each  landfill. The radii of the concen
regions  were:  1/4 mile,  1/2 mile, anc
mile. The occurrence or nonoccurrer
of  the wetlands and  deepwater  hab
systems in  each  concentric  region v
then recorded.
  Many sanitary landfills are  typically
the  order  of  100  acres  in size. F
example, in  the state of Florida about
percent  of the active sanitary landfills <
between 50 and 150 acres in size, w
the  average size being 110 acres.
landfill that is  100 acres  in size a
uniformly distributed about  its latituc
longitude point designation  will have
radius of  approximately  1/4 mile  ai
therefore, will approximate the bound:
of  the first  concentric  1/4-mile radi
region. Undoubtedly, most of the landf
located  in  a  1 /4-mile  radius  regi
containing either wetlands or deepwa
habitats should be considered to
located in  wetlands  or  deepwat
habitats. Since landfills vary considerat
in size and  shape,  some of the landfi
located  in the  1/2-mile radius and 1-m
radius  regions containing  wetlands
deepwater habitats will probably also I
located in  wetlands  or  deepwat
habitats. The exact geographic bounda
of  the  landfill  is  not  the  critic
consideration  for determining adver:
impacts associated  with  these facilitie
since contaminants can migrate off-site
affect wetlands and deepwater habitats.

Results
  We obtained data on  the proximity
24  sanitary landfills in  the  state
Georgia to wetlands and  deepwat
habitats. There are  198  sanitary landfil
in  the DPRA  data  file  for the  state
Georgia and 24  (12  percent)  of the:
facilities have NWI maps available for si1
interpretation. As  a result,  174 (I
percent) of  the 198 sanitary landfills
the state of Georgia are not included
this study.

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  Approximately  83  percent  of the
sanitary  landfills are located  in or within
1/4  mile of wetlands, while  100 are
located in or within 1/2 and 1  mile  of
wetlands, respectively (Figure 1). None of
the landfills are  located more than a mile
from any type of wetland.  Most sanitary
landfills are located either in or are close
to Palustrine wetlands (approximately 79,
92, and  100 percent are  located  in  or
within  1/4, 1/2,  and 1 mile, respectively,
of a Palustrine wetland).
  None  of the sanitary  landfills are
located in or within 1/4 mile of deepwater
habitats, while  17 and 33  percent are
located in or within 1/2 and 1  mile  of
deepwater habitats,  respectively (Figure
2).  Sixteen (67  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 Lacustrine   or  Riverine
deepwater habitats  (i.e.,  25  percent are
located in or within 1 mile of a Lacustrine
deepwater habitat and 13  percent   are
located in or within 1 mile of a Riverine
deepwater habitat).
  Approximately  83  percent  of the
sanitary  landfills are located  in or within
1/4 mile of either wetlands or deepwater
habitats, while 100 percent  are  located in
or within 1/2 and 1 mile of either wetlands
or  deepwater   habitats,  respectively
(Figure  3).  None 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  (approximately 79, 92,  and 100
percent are located in or within 1/4, 1/2,
and 1  mile,  respectively, of a  Palustrine
deepwater habitat while approximately
17, 33, and 50  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 Georgia.

Conclusions
  All  sanitary landfills included in the
state of Georgia 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, approximately one-
 third  of the sanitary  landfills  in the state   the potential for adversely affecting these
 of Georgia are located either in or close   sensitive ecosystems.
 to deepwater habitats and they also have
Palustrine
Lacustrine
 Riverine
Estuarine
  Marine
   All
 systems
                                                                                100
                                                                  79
                                        42
                      17
IfPHi  a
b
o

o
o
o
H   In or within 1 mile

0    In or within  1/2 mile

I    In or within  1/4 mile
 Figure 1. Proximity of 24 Georgia sanitary landfills to wetlands.
 Lacustrine
  Riverine
 Estuarine
  Marine
    All
  systems
                              25
                      13
                               0    In or within 1 mile

                               0    In or within 1/2 mile

                               I    In or within 1/4 mile
                                    33
                         I

                         20
                              I

                             40
               T

               60
                                            Percent

  Figure 2. Proximity of 24 Georgia sanitary landfills to deepwater habitats.
 \

80
                                                                                100

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                                                                                                  100
                                               25
                                                                50
                     Palustrine
                    Lacustrine
                     Riverine
                     Estuarine
                      Marine
                       All
                     systems
                                                            Percent

                     Figure 3. Proximity of 24 Georgia sanitary landfills to either the closest wetland or deepwater habitat.
                                                  In or within 1 mile

                                                  In or within 1/2 mile

                                                  In or within 1/4 mile
   The EPA author, Victor W. 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
        Georgia Sanitary Landfills to Wetlands and Deepwater
        Habitats:  Statewide  Results," and  "Proximity  of
        Georgia Sanitary Landfills to Wetlands and Deepwater
        Habitats: Data on Individual Landfills," (Orders No. PB
                             90-J50 848; Cosf: $15.00,  and PB 90-750 855;  Cost: $15,00
                                   subject to change) will be available only 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
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Center for Environmental Research
Information
Cincinnati OH 45268
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300

EPA/600/S4-89/048
  CHICAGO

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