Potential pollution risks of historic landfills in England: Further analysis of climate change impacts

• Published in: Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Water Vol. 11; no. 3; pp. e1706 - n/a
• Main Authors: Brand, James H., Spencer, Kate L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-05-2024; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Climate change; Contaminants; contamination; Drinking water; Drought; Engineering; Environmental changes; Environmental impact; Environmental regulations; Environmental risk; erosion; flooding; Floods; Freshwater; Freshwater environments; Groundwater; Groundwater flow; Groundwater quality; Hazardous wastes; Health care expenditures; History of engineering; hydrology; Inland water environment; Landfill; Landfills; Leachates; legacy landfill; Mitigation; Natural disasters; Pollution; Receptors; Regulation; Regulations; Risk; Solid wastes; Waste disposal sites; Water monitoring; Water pollution; Water quality; Water supply; United Kingdom > UK; England
• ISSN: 2049-1948; 2049-1948
• DOI: 10.1002/wat2.1706

Five years ago, an article in WIREs Water provided the first comprehensive analysis of historic (legacy) landfill sites vulnerable to coastal flooding and erosion at a national scale (England). This update expands upon that article by considering the potential impacts of climate change upon inland historic landfills. Globally, there are hundreds of thousands of landfills that predate modern environmental regulations, and where waste is not isolated from the surrounding environment, but climate change impacts on the pollution risk from historic landfills in freshwater environments has received little attention. Where climate change causes an increase in the frequency and magnitude of fluvial flood events, this will increase leachate generation and the probability of landfill erosion and solid waste release. Where there is increased drought the landfill capping materials may crack, opening up new pollutant pathways, and increasing the risk of solid waste release. Changes to groundwater movement resulting from climate change may open new leachate pathways, and in England alone, thousands of historic landfills are in (groundwater) Source Protection Zones where modern regulations to protect drinking water supplies would not permit their construction. This increased contaminant release from historic landfills in freshwater environments may impact surface and/or groundwater quality and ecological health, increase costs for drinking water monitoring/treatment, or make some ion sources unviable. This is especially of concern where receptors are subject to multiple pressures and may cause tipping points to be reached. Further research is warranted into contaminant behavior, receptor vulnerability, historic landfill risk prioritization, and mitigation/remediation methods.
This article is categorized under:
Engineering Water > Engineering Water
Science of Water > Water Quality
Science of Water > Water and Environmental Change
Water and Life > Stresses and Pressures on Ecosystems
In England, 46% of (groundwater) Source Protection Zone 3—total catchment zones contain historic landfills where modern regulations to protect drinking water supplies would not permit their construction. Future leaching from these historic landfills may increase the need to monitor or treat drinking water or make some sources unviable.