Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Benthic macroinvertebrate and periphyton community responses to a complex mixture in landfill leachate seep discharge

Conference ·
OSTI ID:230910
;  [1];  [2]
  1. Midwest Environmental Consultants, Inc., Toledo, OH (United States)
  2. Bowling Green State Univ., OH (United States)
Typically, the composition of sanitary landfill leachate is a complex mixture of organic and inorganic chemicals. The existence of landfill facilities which operated prior to current solid waste disposal regulations, has resulted in the need for evaluation of potential risks/hazards to the environment, due to leaching of this complex mixture of contaminants to surface and/or subsurface media. Evaluation an a chemical specific basis is tedious at best, and gives little information about the effects of the mixture of chemicals present. Therefore, an evaluation of in-situ community response was conducted. This paper focuses on the response of the macroinvertebrate and periphyton communities, in terms of dominant taxa and community structure, in a small pond adjacent to a former sanitary landfill facility, which receives leachate seep discharge via groundwater flow from an unconfined aquifer. The pond, created during use of the landfill, is actually an area where cover material was obtained for landfill construction. Macroinvertebrate and periphyton community structure was assessed at three shallow, sandy locations in the pond, at varying distances from the areas of known leachate seeps. General water quality and laboratory toxicity testing with Pimephales promelas, Ceriodaphnia dubia, and Chironomus tentans was also conducted using ambient water and sediment from the three locations. Differences between locations are distinct in both the periphyton and macroinvertebrate communities, and in the results of the aquatic toxicity testing. No difference between locations was observed, however, in terms of toxicity testing with chironomids.
OSTI ID:
230910
Report Number(s):
CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English