What exactly is a landfill?
A landfill isn’t Simply a mountain of trash buried in the ground. Landfills have to be carefully designed and monitored to prevent waste from mixing with groundwater and to reduce odors. Because materials in landfills do not decompose quickly, soil is layered on top of the waste to help expedite the process.(2) In conclusion, landfills are …show more content…
Everyday, our landfills release over ten different kinds of hazardous gases in our atmosphere, of the most dangerous the is the deadly gas known to scientists as methane. Methane gas naturally occurs during the decay process of organic materials in landfills. As this gas is created,tremendous amounts of pressure is made which forces the gas to move it’s way through the earth. In a new study, of 238 landfills tested, a soaring 83 percent had off-site migration of lethal gases, including methane.
The 2 main environmental issues we have to deal with today due to landfill sites are: Air pollution - harmful emissions released into our atmosphere and Water pollution - emissions into our water supply. these problems both directly effect nearby businesses and homes through the air we breath and water we drink.
The prominent environmental issue we are faced with today as a result of landfills is pollution to our waterways (aka groundwater pollution). This problem is known to environmentalists as ‘’leachates’’, the perilous liquid that ‘’leaches’’ or drains out from a landfill. Although various steps have been taken to protect human health from these toxins, only so much can be done to reduce the production of this