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<br /> E ;
<br /> Does landfill leachate make
<br /> C1519 .
<br /> clay liners more permeable'?
<br /> ra.
<br /> Permeability of clay liners typically has been determined using relatively
<br /> pure water. Real leachates to which clay liners in industrial landfills are
<br /> exposed however, can"be either highly contaminated water or contain
<br /> organic liquids. Roth old and recent studies indicate clay can be vastly
<br /> more permeable'to concentrated organic liquids than to pure water. A
<br /> more rational approach to testing of clay liner permeability is presented
<br /> here.
<br /> DAVID ANDERSON ; "
<br /> the role of long term containment of
<br /> K. W. Brown and Associates leachate. -
<br /> College Station, TX 77840 i 7
<br /> How permeable are clay liners to
<br /> organic liquids?
<br /> IMPERMEABLE is a word that never
<br /> should have been;used to describe clay Evidence that clay can be as much as
<br /> liners. Since all clay liners are ---me- l million times more permea a to
<br /> ablc, the questions to ask are "at what or amt hguids than to�ure water was _
<br /> rate are they leak�n --- ---
<br /> g„" and "to what published 40 years ago in the Transac-
<br /> extent do they resist permeability in- tions of the British Ceramic Society by
<br /> reases upon exposure to leachate?" H. H. Macey (April 1942, Volume 41,
<br /> Most state environmental r
<br /> ns Number 4). However, little data is
<br /> require that clay liners exh ii a per e- available on the influence organic li
<br /> ability not greater than I 10 p cmc uids would have on the permeability of
<br /> sec. Such a permeabilityi y
<br /> ,valent clay liners. In order to establish the
<br /> to a leakage rate of 32 thousand gallons relative permeability of clay liners toy;V�V
<br /> (121,280 I) of leachate per year from water and organic liquids, comparative
<br /> each acre of a landfill. permeability tests were conducted us-
<br /> Clay liner permeabilities are typi- ing both water (0.01 N CaSO4) and sev-
<br /> tally determined usingrelative)
<br /> y pure era) organic liquids typical of those
<br /> water as the leachate. In contrast, the placed in hazardous waste landfills.
<br /> actual leachates generated in industrial
<br /> landfills are more likely to be either
<br /> highly contaminated water ora mixture _wk�/A, k'a
<br /> of organic liquids released by the dis- A t T cal Descriptions of the Contents of Drums
<br /> posed waste. A typical list of the con- Placed to Industrial L dfitis
<br /> a
<br /> tents of landfilled drums points to theL�;' s
<br /> fact that a wide variety of organic liq- t Dibromo propanol Urethane lacquer r-
<br /> uids have been landfilled in the as try Methylene chtore bothria Toluene still bottoms r
<br /> p Frectlonaltt a F k Methanol slurry
<br /> (Table 1). There have been occasional ,;peaticldes fi
<br /> Resinous
<br /> Phenol tsludge & `
<br /> regulatory attempts to limit the amount Distillation bottoms ,• /
<br /> tar sludge ^ "+
<br /> of liquids disposed in landfills; however, PCB waste 3 Y g ;<
<br /> discussions with operators of industrial Oil Judge f s,i Fuel oil sludge t
<br /> No.6 fuel oil sludge f
<br /> landfills; environmental engineers Solvent bottoms '?r Contaminated fuel oil P
<br /> state and federal hazardous waster reg ,,,solvent
<br /> still oms' i< Glycol waste
<br /> ulation enforcement official and and uni ',Trichlor bottom at transfer ail sludge
<br /> versity researchers conducting hazard- "i't^k sludge h1.4`+ri,4� ,}. 4'�:,'Acetic acid sludge
<br /> ous waste research invariably point to Phenol sludge,',
<br /> f `
<br /> MEK distillation bottoms
<br /> f
<br /> the same conclusion:disposal of organic Paint sludgy :a�� ' b '� ; Liquid resins
<br /> Tank.,sludge tpq•,
<br /> liquids in landfills is generally proceed 'Stitt residues`, 4a 4k Freon bottoms
<br /> ing much the same as it has for the past Organic residues °x Oil and grass® sludge
<br /> b a�>
<br /> three decades: �,�?,;� �' , �' Miscellaneous liquid wastes
<br /> ',Terephthaleta sludge, Chlorinated x lane sludge,
<br /> 'PCB bottoms ' +'l Benzyl alcohol bottoms
<br /> Most recent rules of the EPA (July 'laboratory chemicals4;' $B� sQ.< Grinding oil sludge
<br /> 1982) have stated that new hazardous .Sulfonat still bottomas t� [ q, 4
<br /> waste landfill liners should be con- Ffeavy metal stud f:, a fF Filter sludge
<br /> 4 ".Transformer oil sludge
<br /> strutted of materials that prevent waste Chlorinated solvent ' Methyl chloroform bottoms
<br /> from entering into the liner during the Mercury filter,p ss sludget; a Organic sludges
<br /> active life of the disposal facility. This Tank bolt reaklues, 4�` 4"¢c r; perchtor bottoms
<br /> ruling could have the effect of eliminat 3 Still bottom r
<br /> saidues Waste solvents ;
<br /> y Chlorinated organic residues ,
<br /> ing clay liners from new landfills in Resins and solvents
<br /> favor of flexible membrane liners '� Platingsludge
<br /> 1",A: .. Mixed solvents
<br /> There is,however,no existing data base , l
<br /> ,"t=ry the Pub/lo/JrPc of M@ State of New York on Chem-tro/pollution S
<br /> that indicates membrane liners woulderviced f
<br /> tff ,L,and&N aefning apprpx/prately 680,000 fN of industrial wastes
<br /> perform any better than clay liners in Ps: ,a
<br /> 66 Civil Engineering-ASCE September 12482
<br /> 0360-0556/82/0009-0066/$Qt00
<br />
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