Documenting Spatial and Temporal Variations of Subsurface Contaminates Using Tree Cores: Implications for the Design of Effective Waste Management Strategies

• Main Author: Fonkwe, Merline L. D.
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 2016
• Subjects: Canada; Christensen; Rowe; permafrost
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/12342/; https://research.library.mun.ca/12342/1/Fonkwe_14-15_Waste.pdf; https://www.mun.ca/harriscentre/media/production/memorial/administrative/the-harris-centre/media-library/reports/Fonkwe_14-15_Waste.pdf

Proper waste management has become a worldwide humanitarian topic, because of increased awareness of potential risks posed by unsound waste disposal to human health and the environment (El-Fadel et al., 1997; Rowe et al., 1997). In remote communities in Canada’s North, here defined as the part north of the southern limit of discontinued permafrost zone, landfills and/or dumps remain the most common methods employed for the disposal of solid waste, much as they do elsewhere (Bright et al., 1995; Zagozewski et al., 2011). In northern communities, landfills or dumps have received typically household and commercial/industrial wastes or waste rocks from mineral exploration and mining activities (Bright et al., 1995; ROLES, 2014; Government of Canada, 2015). Modern engineered landfills are designed to mitigate or prevent the adverse impacts of waste on the surrounding environment. However, the generation of leachate and gas remains an inevitable consequence of existing waste disposal practices and at any future landfill sites, and risks to public health and environment may arise if sites are not well-controlled (Sawhney and Kozloski, 1984; Allen, 2001; Christensen et al., 2001; Eggen et al., 2010). Consequently, the development of innovative locality-specific strategies and methods is crucial to ensuring efficient solid waste management and environmental protection