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WASTE IMPOUNDMENT ASSESSMENT IN THE STATE OF INDIANA
Author(s) -
Walsh J. J.,
Gillespie D. P.,
Schauf F. J.,
Silka L. R.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1981.tb03441.x
Subject(s) - environmental science , groundwater , hazardous waste , contamination , environmental engineering , waste management , hydrology (agriculture) , engineering , geotechnical engineering , ecology , biology
A waste impoundment is a pit, pond, or lagoon used for the storage, treatment, or disposal of wastes. Because they may contain hazardous wastes and are often sited in permeable soils, waste impoundments pose athreat to the nation's ground‐water resources. Out of the need for better protection of ground water, a nationwide program on waste impoundments was developed by the U.S. Environ mental Protection Agency (EPA). The purpose of this study was to develop a data base on impoundment numbers, locations, operations, and contamination potential which would aid in the establishment of an appropriate ground‐water protection program. The primary objectives of the Indiana waste impoundment project included: (1) to perform an inventory of waste impoundments in the State through file reviews and inspector interviews, and (2) to rate each waste impoundment inventoried on the basis of its ground‐water contamination potential. Data collected on this project demonstrate that waste impoundments do pose high contamination potentials. For example, depths to ground water at impoundments averaged only 13 ft (3.8 m) and approximately 20 percent of impoundments are located atop sand and gravel or limestone. Furthermore, 1,781 sites (94 percent) are within 1 mile (1.6 km) of water supplies and 95 (5 percent) of these are less than 600 ft (220 m) upgradient from drinking‐water wells.