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Compacted Soil Barriers at Abandoned Landfill Sites are Likely to Fail in the Long Term
Author(s) -
Suter Glenn W.,
Luxmoore Robert J.,
Smith Ellen D.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1993.00472425002200020001x
Subject(s) - hazardous waste , environmental science , intrusion , term (time) , subsidence , resource conservation and recovery act , mining engineering , waste management , risk analysis (engineering) , geology , engineering , business , paleontology , physics , geochemistry , quantum mechanics , structural basin
At innumerable sites in the USA and around the world, buried waste has been isolated from the environment by barriers constructed entirely or in part of compacted soil. The chief concern in barrier design has been to isolate the waste in the short term by preventing movement of water into and through the waste. However, in the long term a variety of mechanisms can act to compromise this isolation. The mechanisms of long‐term failure include initial flaws in barrier construction, shrink‐swell cycles, freeze‐thaw cycles, erosion, subsidence, root intrusion, and animal intrusion. Evidence for action of all of these mechanisms is summarized. The likelihood of long‐term failure suggests that either perpetual care must be provided for buried hazardous wastes, or the waste sites must be designed to withstand long‐term threats to barrier integrity.