Masters Theses

Abstract

"The St. Francois County Sanitary Landfill is a 503.8-acre site located 1n the Old Lead Belt area of southeast Missouri. The landfill, which was opened in July 1973., is being operated by the non-profit St. Francois County Environmental Corporation. The site is largely covered by up to 80 feet of tailings finely ground dolomite of the lower Bonne Terre Formation., wh1ch are a product of decades of lead mining and milling at the Deslodge, Missouri, Mine. The landfill 1s surrounded on three sides by the Big River. Approximately 36,000 people are being served by the landfill which takes in about 2,000 tons of domestic wastes per month,

The objectives of the study were to determine the potential of the landfill to pollute the Big River and to establish water quality base levels for the area. If the potential for pollution by the landfill is low, the project could be considered a good example or land use and cooperation between industry and government.

Illinois, California, and South Dakota have made the most extensive studies dealing with sanitary landfills. These studies indicate that chloride ls a good leachate constituent for monitoring leachate migration.

The present filling operation is being conducted on an 81.9-acre tract located over an old stream valley. The trench method of solid waste disposal is being used at the landfill. Observations indicate that at various locations in the site, the trenches come in contact with perched water tables.

The tailings consist primarily of dolomite., They range in size from a medium sand to a clayey sand. The permeability or the tailings range from that expected of a clean medium sand to that of an average clay~

Leachate, from another landfill, was poured into a column of tailings from the landfill$ and allowed to saturate the tailings and Leachate was also poured into a sealed bottle. Samples were periodically taken from the bottle and the column and chemically analyzed. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the tailings on leachate., This study showed no unusual trends. The study indicated that no reaction occurred either in the bottle or the column to reduce the concentration of chloride. This leachate constituent is a good indicator of the extent of leachate pollution.

Water samples were taken at the site and from the Big River above and below the site. The samples were chemically analyzed to determine water quality base levels 1n the landfill area.

The maximum potential of the landfill to pollute the water resources of the area was determined by calculations using information from other landfill studies and hydrologic and climatic data of the landfill area. The calculations showed the landfill to have a low potential to pollute the water resources of' the area.

A water quality monitoring program, to be run by the staff of the landfill, was recommended to ensure the future environmental success of the project. Also, whenever possible, compacted fine tailings should be used as top cover and a revegetation program at the site should be initiated. These two steps will help minimize rainfall inf1ltrat1on into the trenches and decrease erosion ~ear the trenches"-- Abstract, pp. ii-iv

Advisor(s)

Warner, Donald L.

Committee Member(s)

Barr, David J.
Jennett, J. Charles

Department(s)

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering

Degree Name

M.S. in Geological Engineering

Publisher

University of Missouri--Rolla

Publication Date

1974

Pagination

xi, 95 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 53-54)

Rights

© 1974 Kent David Gastreich, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Citation

File Type

text

Language

English

Thesis Number

T 4008

Print OCLC #

5981748

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