Title: The impact of an open waste disposal site on soil and groundwater pollution

Authors: Alper Baba, Yasemin Kavdir, Ozan Deniz

Addresses: Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Engineering and Architecture Faculty, Department of Geological Engineering, 17020, Canakkale, Turkey. ' Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Agriculture Faculty, Department of Soil Science, 17020, Canakkale, Turkey. ' Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Engineering and Architecture Faculty, Department of Geological Engineering, 17020, Canakkale, Turkey

Abstract: A study has been carried out of a waste disposal site, located in the valley of a small creek, 3 km south of Canakkale city centre. The surface area of the site was around 101000 square metres, and the total amount of waste deposited at the site since 1990 was approximately 1001000 tons. The major risks of the dump are its closeness to the university campus area to the south, the airport to the north, and residential areas encroaching towards the dump site. The nuisance caused by odour is high. The waste pile emplaced at the head of the tributary stream has caused channelling of the leachate to the creek, which is eventually washed towards the agricultural fields. The field investigation included surface geological, hydrogeochemical and geochemical studies. Water samples were collected at 11 points. Three observation wells were dug in front of the open waste disposal site. Soil samples from these observation wells were collected at 30, 70 and 150 cm depths, and some heavy metals were analysed. The concentrations of lead, copper and zinc in soil at the depth of 150 cm decreased with distance from the waste disposal site. Hydrogeochemical data analysis gave similar results.

Keywords: water pollution; surface geochemistry; surface hydrogeochemistry; odour; waste disposal sites; water contamination; open waste disposal; soil pollution; soil contamination; groundwater pollution; Turkey; heavy metals.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2004.006057

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2004 Vol.22 No.6, pp.676 - 687

Published online: 29 Jan 2005 *

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