TRASH DOESN'T BELONG IN NATURE
Tennessee has a huge trash problem -- we have too much trash and not enough landfills to store it. When this happens, municipalities and private parties buy large acreage of land to house landfills. There currently is a mandated buffer that kept landfills from being built within so many miles from a river.
Landfill malfunctions are detrimental to the ecosystem and residents that reside around the landfill and it is CRUCIAL to keep that buffer in place and keep landfills away from the Duck River's ecosystem and its watershed.
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..."WHY SHOULD I BE CONCERNED?"
MALFUNCTIONS
What happens when a landfill leaks?
Leachate seeping from a landfill contaminates the groundwater beneath the landfill, and this contaminated groundwater is known as a plume. The normal movement of groundwater causes the leachate plume to extend away from a landfill, in some cases for many hundreds of meters.
In order for a MSW landfill to be "secure", you need four critical elements working together cohesively with zero malfunctions.
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1. BOTTOM LAYER
The landfill's "bottom layer" can be single, or multiple layers, of clay or synthetic membrane. It essentially is a bathtub for the waste. If the bottom liner fails, wastes will migrate directly into the environment.
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What is wrong with a clay liner?
Municipal Solid Waste landfills accept your household trash. What do you throw away in your kitchen garbage can? Bottle of alcohol? Plastics? Cleaning products you no longer use? The CHEJ states household items like alcohol and certain cleaning products can decay the clay liner overtime.
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What is wrong with a plastic liner?
The most secure landfills are now lined with HDPE (High Density Polyethylene). Much like the clay liner, household items can also decay this liner overtime by softening it or making it become brittle and crack. Per the CHEJ, something as simple as moth balls, margarine, vinegar, and shoe polish can start the decaying process.
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2. LEACHATE COLLECTION SYSTEM
As stated above, leachate is water that has been contaminated by contacting the wastes inside the landfill. The leachate is collected into pipes at the bottom of the landfill and sent through a wastewater treatment process. Leachate can also have solids - think about a stopped up kitchen sink - that can clog the drain pipes causing the leachate to collect inside the landfill. The pressure, can result into the leachate leaking if the liner fails.
3. HYRDOGEOLOGIC SETTING
This is essentially a layer of tightly packed rock. This layer assists with waterproofing, as well as, creates a barrier to assist with proper draining if the liner was to leak. Per the CHEJ and EPA, landfills need to be in an area that is not affected by erosion due to erosion shifting the hydrogeologic setting.
-- The proposed area is currently used for logging purposes, and multiple residents around this area have already stated they experience erosion issue due to the logging roads.
4. COVER
This is an "umbrella" for the landfill to assist with leachate forming. The cover usually consists of several sloped layers: one to waterproof, one to assist with rain runoff, and one to stabilize the underlying layers of the cover.
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What can go wrong with covers?
Several factors can cause a cover to malfunction: erosion, vegetation, burrowing animals, and even sunlight can cause the cover to malfunction.
These four components working together in harmony create a secure landfill, but if just one problem occurs it could potentially lead to a disaster. It is crucial we find a location where the least amount of damage will occur.