Municipal solid waste is the term used to describe our trash. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has informed Whetpebble that a site must be chosen for a city landfill to store the town's municipal solid waste. Presently, Whetpebble residents dispose of their trash by composting, incineration, and hiring private waste-disposal companies to get rid of it for them. However, the EPA worries that methane gas and other byproducts of decomposing trash could cause health problems if not properly monitored. The site must be 1 square mile.
Whetpebble citizens must chose a site for the city landfill based on the following information:

• When engineers choose a site, they usually consider 4 factors:
  • the geology of the area - What kind of rock or soil is underneath the site?
  • the nature of the local environment - Will the wildlife or current state of the land be affected?
  • the accessibility of the site - How easy is it to reach the area by truck?
  • the distance away from people and businesses that generate the waste - Is it too close to a neighborhood? How much money will be spent shipping the trash to the site?
• Time and money are important considerations. Landfills can take at least 5 years to complete and cost anywhere from $2 to $5 million dollars. Even after the landfill is filled and sealed off, monitoring should continue for many years after.
• Landfills are built on sites where impermeable rock and/or hard clay deposits are located. These materials are best because they act as natural seals between the landfill and the environment.
• Porous materials are rock and soils that have a significant amount of pore space between grains or contain alot of air. Permeable materials are rocks and soils that liquids can move through. Porous rocks are usually permeable. Almost all soils are permeable.
• Modern landfills usually start by digging a large pit into the ground and covering it with layers of trash until it is filled to the surface. The bottom and sides of the pit are lined with layers of dense clay or plastic to keep leachate - liquids from decaying waste, from leaking into the soil. These plastics and clays aren't 100% guaranteed.
• Wells and pumps are installed in the landfills for monitoring. The pumps collect leachate that drains from the landfill and pump it to the surface to be treated. Wells are used to monitor ground water so that contamination from the landfill can be detected.
• After each day, the landfill workers cover the new layer of trash with soil to reduce odor and help control rats and other pests form inhabiting the site.
• When the landfill is full, grasses and trees are planted over top and workers continue to monitor ground wells. Past landfills have been landscaped into parks, golf courses, and parking lots. Building homes and business on old landfill sites is not encouraged because the trash continues to settle for years after being sealed over.
• Scientists have found that most trash biodegrades or decomposes faster in sunlight and fresh air. However, some trash cannot be allowed to decompose or it becomse toxic and contaminates the soil around it.
• Methane gas is produced as a byproduct of decomposition at landfill sites. The EPA requires landfills to treat and monitor it as a pollutant, but landfills can collect the gas, treat it, and sell it as fuel; similar to natural gas.
• Patterson Run and Banks Brook are intermittent streams. All other surface water sources in Whetpebble flow year-round.

Consider these questions when choosing a site...

1. What kind of rock or soil is near the site?
2. Who currently lives on the land? How will your land be affected?
3. Wind generally blows north to south through Whetpebble. Have you ever smelled a landfill?
4. What water sources are nearby? Where will rain or groundwater flow from the landfill? How many streams could potentially be contaminated if a leak occurs?
5. Will the landfill have an economic impact on Whetpebble?