18-Env-A6 Solid Waste Engineering and Management · May 2016
Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)
Reference texts: Tchobanoglous, Theisen & Vigil, Integrated Solid Waste Management: Engineering Principles and Management Issues; Vesilind, Worrell & Reinhart, Solid Waste Engineering; Davis & Cornwell, Introduction to Environmental Engineering (6th ed.); CCME, Guidance Document on Landfill Gas Management; Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.
Question text not reproduced: the examination questions are © Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Open the official past paper (linked at the top of this page) to read the question, then follow the worked solution below.
(1) Long-term environmental monitoring — groundwater quality, leachate quantity/quality, and landfill-gas migration and surface emissions, continued for the full regulatory post-closure period (commonly 25 years or more under most Canadian provincial landfill regulations, and longer if monitoring shows continued impact). (2) Final cover (cap) maintenance — repairing settlement cracks, erosion and vegetation loss to keep infiltration and gas migration under control as the waste mass continues to settle for years after closure. (3) Financial assurance — a dedicated closure/post-closure trust fund, bond or other instrument sized to fund the full monitoring and maintenance period, since the site's tipping-fee revenue ends at closure while its obligations do not. (4) Institutional controls and land-use restrictions — deed notations or zoning restrictions preventing incompatible future development (e.g., basements, wells) on or immediately adjacent to the closed site.
