The application of borehole geophysics to the delineation of leachate contamination at the Trail Road landfill site: Nepean, Ontario
Conference
·
OSTI ID:526112
- Geological Survey of Canada, Ontario (Canada)
The sanitary landfill site poses many monitoring problems for the environmental scientist. An understanding of the materials and processes controlling the distribution of leachate in the groundwater at a landfill site is an essential component of landfill management. The Trail Road landfill site in Nepean, Ontario, is perched upon a sand and gravel ridge which is part of a lacustrine silty clay plain. The delineation and monitoring of leachate contamination, created by the decomposing municipal solid waste mixing with groundwater, is presently carried out through chemical sampling of monitoring wells. Such monitoring of a complex and hydraulically conductive environment, is expensive and time consuming because water samples must be analyzed in a laboratory. Borehole geophysical logging of eight of these monitoring wells showed that the delineation of leachate plumes could be accomplished through a full suite of borehole geophysical logs. The logs acquired included: natural gamma ray, density, total magnetic field, magnetic susceptibility, electrical conductivity, and temperature. The use of a full suite of logs provided a measure of the in-situ physical properties of all the components of the subsurface, including air, water, and sediments. Chemical sampling provided only an inventory of ions present in the groundwater. Anomalous physical properties, interpreted to be the result of the presence of leachate contamination, correlated well with data from chemical sampling which showed elevated levels of leachate indicator ions, such as, calcium, magnesium, chloride, sulphate, potassium, ammonia, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), phenols and iron. It was concluded that an interpretation of borehole geophysical logs produced a more accurate delineation of areas of leachate contamination at the Trail Road landfill site, more directly (i.e. in situ), and with greater efficiency and simplicity than chemical sampling.
- OSTI ID:
- 526112
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-970344--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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