N ½ Sec 19 T3S R11W

Landfills are “land disposal sites for solid waste; operators compact refuse and cover it with a layer of dirt to minimize rodent and insect infestation, wind-blown debris, and leachate by rain (Cunningham and Saigo 2001).   There are three types of landfills trench, area, and ramp.  The trench method is where solid waste is buried in trenches.  The area method is where solid waste is spread on the surface and dirt is brought in from other places and used to bury the waste.  The ramp method is a combination of the trench and area methods.   The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that seventy-five percent of the 55,000 landfills in the United States are polluting ground water.  “The majority of those landfills are what are called ‘sanitary’ landfills in which there was little or no regard given in their siting, construction, operation, and closure for the potential impact of leachate generated within the landfill on groundwater quality” (Jones-Lee and Lee 1993) (Regs. III). Our site lies within the Highland Rim.  “The Highland Rim section of the Interior Low Plateaus is typically an area of low relief and flat to rolling topography” (Bossong and Harris, 1987) (Map III).   The average person will produce over 1,356 pounds of garbage year (Table III).  The new census data on the total population of Lauderdale County is 87,966 (Table II).  If we were to multiply these numbers together, Lauderdale County will produce a staggering 119,281,896 pounds of garbage per year.

1. The bottom part of our section contains backwash from the Tennessee.

2.   The soil is of the Dewey-Decatur series (Map I).  The Decatur series is a soil that drains well and slopes gently.  Karst topography is present in some areas.  It is formed from weathered limestone and old valley fill.  It has moderate permeability and infiltration.  It has high water capacity.  The Dewey series is a soil that drains well and slopes gently.  Formed by weathered limestone and old alluvium.  The soil has moderate permeability and infiltration, and moderate to high water capacity.  A site with which a landfill is built must be able to handle heavy traffic.  Some soil series are better able to handle vehicular traffic.  Our site will handle a fair amount of vehicular traffic.

3.   Karst terrain is an area plagued with sinkholes or cave systems.  A sinkhole is a limestone cavern that has collapsed.  Our site has more than one sinkhole (Map V).  It contains at least one large sinkhole with smaller ones in the surrounding area. 

The bedrock for our site is Tuscumbia limestone mixed with chert (Map II).  Limestone (CaCO₃) is a sedimentary rock.  It is made up of calcite shells cemented together.  There are three types of limestone: fossiliferous, coquin, and chalk.  Fossiliferous limestone is made up of large calcite shell fragments thoroughly cemented together by calcite cement.  Coquina limestone is made up of calcite shell fragments slightly cemented together.  It is very porous.  Chalk is made up of very small shell fragments cemented together weakly.  It is porous.  Limestone is easily dissolved by acid.  This acid is present in rain and runoff.  Chert (SiO₂), also called flint is a sedimentary rock.  It is made up of crystalline quartz.  Both the Tuscumbia Limestone and the Fort Payne Chert are of the Mississippian Age.  The Fort Payne Chert is the oldest rock layer from the Mississippian Age, with the Tuscumbia Limestone being the next to oldest rock layer (Map IV).  

4. The Dewey-Decatur soil series is more than six feet to the seasonal high water table. The Tuscumbia-Fort Payne aquifer lies within our site.  Monteagle Limestone, Tuscumbia Limestone, and Fort Payne Chert make up The Tuscumbia-Fort Payne aquifer.  The cities of North Alabama use this aquifer to meet their water needs.  Aquifers are easily contaminated.  According to the USGS and ADEM “The Tuscumbia-Fort Payne aquifer is the most widely-used aquifer for public supply in the study area” (Bossong and Farris 1987).  Precipitation that does not runoff of the Mississippian aged bedrock is used to recharge the aquifers.    Wells that lie within this aquifer produce large amounts of water.  One example is the William’s well that is pumped for more than 3,200 gallons per minute.

5. More than six feet to the bedrock.  If the trash is to be buried five feet above the bedrock, in some places on our site that would give us only one foot to dig.  About six inches of garbage would be laid down and about six inches of dirt would be laid over the garbage (Tables I).   
6. Our land is relatively flat.  It has a slope of two to six percent.  We receive fifty-two inches of rain a year.  There is a runoff of twenty-two inches per year.  Twenty percent of all precipitation will eventually be in a lake, reservoir, or the ocean or en route to one of these three.  Both groundwater and surface water flow from an area of higher elevation to an area of lower elevation.  All of the water in Lauderdale County is flowing down to the Tennessee River.  Therefore, a great deal of water will be traveling through our site.
7. Our site is made up primarily of farmland.  There are not any wells on our site, but there are wells in the adjacent property.  According to The West Lauderdale Water Board, our site is not served by them, therefore, the residence in our area are served by wells.  The Rock Creek Primitive Baptist Church is served by a well.  The church is located a tenth of a mile from our site.  
8. We are above the one hundred year flood line.  The edge of the flood plain is about half of a mile south of our site.  If something were to happen to Wilson Dam our site could possibly be flooded (Map VI).

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) has some standards to regulate landfill sites (Regs. I).  One standard is that a landfill cannot endanger the habitat of endangered or threatened species.  The following animals live in our area and are threatened or endangered:

·        Gray Bat

·        Golden Eagle

·        Hellbender (threatened)

·        Fine-Rayed Pigtoe Pearly Mussel

·        Orange-Footed Pimpleback Mussel (Restricted to lower Tennessee River.  No know evidence of reproduction.  The continued existence is highly doubtful).

·        White Warty-Back Pearly Mussel (Restricted to lower Tennessee River.  No know  

      evidence of reproduction.  If conditions do not improve extinction is inevitable).

Another ADEM standard is that a landfill cannot be within ten thousand feet of an airport or within a five mile radius of a landing strip.  A landfill must not be within two hundred feet of a fault. 

Landfills must be situated above the watertable to avoid the contamination of groundwater.  Most contaminants are organic compounds.  An estimation of ninety to ninety-five percent of these organic compounds are of unknown composition.  The impact that these unknown organic compounds have on humans, wildlife, and groundwater are also unknown.     

“The US EPA Solid Waste Disposal Criteria (August 30, 1988a) state, First, even the best liner and leachate collection system will ultimately fail due to natural deterioration, and recent improvements in MSWLF (municipal solid waste landfill) containment technologies suggest that releases may be delayed by many decades at some landfills. The US EPA Criteria for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (July 1988b) state, Once the unit is closed, the bottom layer of the landfill will deteriorate over time and, consequently, will not prevent leachate transport out of the unit”(Regs. IV) These quotes from the EPA preamble clearly state that a liner cannot completely protect the groundwater forever.  Leachate is water that percolates through a landfill.  The leachate is collected and disposed of as hazardous waste. 

            Another restriction made by ADEM is that a landfill cannot be located on an archaeologically or historically sensitive site.  A church and a cemetery are located about one tenth of a mile from our site.  The church on our site was built in 1960.  A building must be at least forty years old for it to be considered a historical landmark.  The cemetery has tombstones dating back to the 1830’s.  A site is deemed historically significant by the Alabama Historical Commission in Montgomery.  For a cemetery to be considered the following must be submitted:   

·        History of the cemetery.  Including the designer.

·        A summary of the cemetery and its surroundings.

·        Highlight prominent people buried there.

·        A sketch of the cemetery. 

·        The location of the cemetery on a map.

Other criteria are listed in appendix.  Through research by talking to a county commissioner a landfill would most likely not be built that close to a church (A.H.C. I).  

There are numerous examples of what happens when waste is not properly disposed of.  One example is Love Canal, New York.  Love Canal was an unfinished canal that was suppose to link Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.  The Hooker Chemical Company used the canal to dump their chemical byproducts.  The land was used to build a school and a subdivision.  By 1977 health problems were reported and Love Canal was eventually evacuated, and today it is practically a ghostown (Love Canal I). 

Conclusion

Landfills are “land disposal sites for solid waste;…” (Cunningham and Saigo 2001).  Most landfills are called sanitary landfills but the majority of the time that statement is used inaccurately, because little consideration is given to siting and other important criteria.  The EPA states in its preamble that a liner will not completely protect the groundwater forever.  It is our conclusion that our site is a bad place to put a landfill.