Historically, it was common practice to dispose of landfill waste in low-lying estuarine and coastal areas where land had limited value due to flood risk. Such ‘historic landfills’ are frequently unlined with no leachate management and inadequate records of the waste they contain. Globally, there are 100,000s such landfills, for example, in England there are >1200 historic landfills in low-lying coastal areas with many in close proximity to designated environmental sites or in/near areas influencing bathing water quality; yet, there is a very limited understanding of the environmental risk posed. Hence, coastal managers are more likely to select conservative management policies, for example, hold-the-line, when alternative more sustainable policies, for example, managed realignment, may be preferred. Some historic coastal landfills have already started to erode and release waste, and with the anticipated effects of climate change, erosion events are likely to become more frequent. Strategies to mitigate the risk of contaminant release from historic landfills such as excavation and relocation or incineration of waste would be prohibitively expensive for many countries. Therefore, it will be necessary to identify which sites pose the greatest pollution risk in order that resources can be prioritized, and to develop alternative management strategies based on site specific risk. Before such management strategies can be achieved there remain many unknowns to be addressed including the extent of legacy pollution in coastal sediments, impacts of saline flooding on contaminant release and the nature, behavior and environmental impact of solid waste release in the coastal zone. WIREs Water 2018, 5:e1264. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1264

For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/wat2.1264

Potential pollution risks of historic landfills on low‐lying coasts and estuaries

Marine pollution from pyroplastics

Environmental Protection Act 1990--Part I.

The contaminant legacy from historic coastal landfills and their potential as sources of diffuse pollution

The sustainable management of post-industrial coasts is a major emerging issue globally. Along such coasts, there may be a significant legacy of both contaminated land (including historic landfills and non-managed waste disposal) and contaminated sediments in and around urban and industrial areas, which require new strategies for cost-effective and integrated risk management under future sea-level rise and climate change scenarios. Here, we review current approaches to managing contamination in post-industrial coastlines, discuss emerging integrated management strategies (building on low input approaches to sustainable brownfields regeneration) and present an approach and framework for assessing and comparing different scenarios for coastal brownfield regeneration to soft re-use and other end-points. This framework can be applied to explore the opportunities for synergy and realisation of wider environmental, economic and societal benefits between coastal protection, dredged material re-use and the management of brownfield land. As such, the approach we propose supports planning and options appraisal to realise maximum benefit and value from integrated coastal management strategies.

/pdf/integrated-and-sustainable-management-of-post-industrial-23vcx6thta.pdf

Integrated and Sustainable Management of Post-industrial Coasts

Uncontrolled landfill disposal can cause the release of significant contamination. In Southern England and in other parts of the UK, historical landfills are located along many coastal and estuarine marshes and mudflats. At these sites waste, often significantly contaminated with heavy metals and other contaminants, was dumped with little engineering control and without regard to the surrounding environment. The aim of this study is to investigate the degree to which heavy metals from these historical sites may have contaminated adjacent marshes and mudflats, using the Lodmoor marsh, Dorset, UK as a test site. Surface and sediment core samples were collected from brackish marsh and mudflat areas around the former landfill at Lodmoor, which was operational between 1949 and 1990. Sediment samples were investigated for metallic pollutants, grain size, and mineralogy, and core samples dated via 137 Cs and 210 Pb. To examine the transfer of heavy metals through the food chain, Phragmites australis leaves were analysed for metallic pollutants. Geochemical data revealed that sediments from the Lodmoor marsh are probably contaminated with Pb. 137 Cs dating indicates that concentration maxima for heavy metals correlate to the 1950s and 1960s when landfill activities commenced in Lodmoor. Shallow electromagnetic surveys indicate potential continued leaching from the historic landfill complex. This study indicates the potential for possible landfill-derived contaminants to persist in coastal systems for decades after landfill closure. Over the longer term, it is possible that salinisation and enhanced coastal erosion may cause significant metal release from the landfills and their surrounding sedimentary systems into adjacent ecosystems.

http://www.wessexportal.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Assessing-the-impact-of-historical-coastal-landfill-sites-on-sensitive-ecosystems1.pdf

N. Tomlinson

Papers

Assessing the impact of historical coastal landfill sites on sensitive ecosystems: A case study from Dorset, Southern England