Author(s)

M. Pacheco & J.F. Vasconcellos

Abstract

This paper presents the probabilistic assessment of the maximum distance travelled by the contamination plume produced by the Municipal Landfill of São Pedro da Aldeia, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Field and laboratory results of ionic concentrations of several contaminants found in the groundwater adjacent to the landfill are presented and interpreted. The landfill has been in operation for 15 years with no concern regarding environmental protection, causing severe damage to flora, wildlife and local farmers. The main objective of this paper is to assess the environmental hazard to the surrounding properties by estimating the maximum distance travelled by the leachate plume by means of proper statistical interpretation of the measured ionic concentration of several contaminants. Keywords: leachate, landfill, ionic concentrations, contamination plume. 1 Introduction The beach town of São Pedro da Aldeia is located 150 km to the North of the City of Rio de Janeiro. The landfill takes 22.000 m2 and is located only 2 km from the closest urban district. The landfill gathers about 18.000 tons/year from the local population, in addition to 4.000 tons/year produced seasonally by the tourist population in summer, totaling 22.000 tons/year of solid waste. Tourism and land farming are the most important local economic activities. Several farms are located adjacent to the landfill, comprising about 1.000 inhabitants that use the ground water for personal use and land farming activities. Unfortunately, the criteria for selection of the municipal landfill did not meet the most basic environmental requirements, while the solid waste has been damped without any previous engineering design, causing severe environmental problems to the local

Keywords

leachate, landfill, ionic concentrations, contamination plume.