CLOSING A LANDFILL - A CASE-STUDY

In this paper we present a case study of the closure of Wildwood Landf ill, an industrial landfill located in Powell River, BC. Site investig ations initiated in 1989 indicated that some leachate-affected groundw ater was reaching Powell Lake. This finding prompted a more complete i nvestigation of the site to determine the extent of the problem and de velop a plan to close the site effectively. Investigation methods incl uded a seismic and transient electromagnetic survey, in addition to in stallation of a number of multi-port wells. A closure plan was develop ed for the landfill based on the investigation results. The landfill w as capped with an asphalt cement surface barrier. The asphalt cement w as designed to have a very low permeability and to incorporate some hy drocarbon contaminated soil into the mix as a method of recycling. The entire project is reviewed in this paper, but the focus is on the nov el elements.