Landfilling, a technology that has been widely employed for decades as a method for waste disposal, has increasingly been recognized as a failed technology due to its long-term environmental, social, and economic consequences. These impacts include pollution, resource waste, environmental degradation, and health hazards, all of which outweigh the purported benefits of landfilling.
But not so well known is that the bathtub-like enclosure of a landfill known as a landfill liner is itself a failed technology.
As far back as 1988, the EPA said, “First, even the best liner and leachate collection systems will ultimately fail due to natural deterioration…” Federal Register p.33345 August 30, 1988.
And, again, in 1988, the EPA stated, “Once the unit is closed, the bottom layer of the landfill will deteriorate over time and, consequently, will not prevent leachate transport out of the unit.”
Furthermore,
Regulations allow for a certain amount of leakage, defined by an “action leakage rate” (ALR). [57 FR 3494, Jan. 29, 1992, as amended at 71 FR 40276, July 14, 2006. The ALR, as set by 6 NYCRR Part 360-2.90)(4), is 20 gallons per acre per day based on a 30-day average.
That means current “state of art” landfills are expected to pollute groundwater with hazardous chemicals that are a threat to human health and the environment.
Leaks, of course, are sometimes found, but leaks are not easy to find or repair. Reaching the damaged area of the landfill liner might involve significant excavation, exposing large amounts of waste material.
A 2008 report from a California engineering-consulting firm, G. Fred Lee & Associates, confirms why modern landfill technology will always fail and should always be expected to poison the air and pollute groundwater.
And in 2004, in regard to the 30-year funding period for postclosure monitoring and maintenance of landfills, G. Fred Lee, also had this to say,
Further,
And, of course, landfills are a major source of methane and other toxic emissions, making landfills a contributor to illness and substantial contributor to climate change.
G Fred Lee had this to say about the eventual failure of landfill gas collection: