Landfill, as defined in the Electronic Encarta World Dictionary 2000, is a method of solid waste disposal in which refuse is buried between layers of dirt so as to fill in or reclaim low-lying ground. There are numerous environmental issues related to landfills. The one that this paper will concentrate is on the issue regarding the location of landfills. As old landfills are forced to close due to the massive amounts of waste material contained within, many cities search for new landfill space that will meet the necessary standards. Due to rising construction costs, some cities discovered it was less expensive to ship their garbage to other places than to upgrade old landfills or open new ones. Some even went as far as dumping their waste into bodies of water, disturbing the ecosystem present. About eighty percent of Canada’s garbage goes to landfills, many of them are rapidly running out of room; half are expected to be filled past capacity by the year 2002. Without the immediate introduction of new means of dealing with our garbage there will be no doubt of not only an environmental crisis but also a human crisis.Legislation Specific requirements for the treatment, storage, and disposal of household and solid wastes usually vary considerably from one province to another. In April 1994 the CCME (The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment) published a revised set of regulations for municipal solid waste landfills. According to these rules, planed landfills cites could not be located within earthquake zones, wetlands, floodplains, or near airports. (Hall 17) In Edmonton, the Clover Bar Sanitary Landfill, which opened in November 1975, covers 198 acres and holds over 12 million tonnes of waste. When built, by law the city of Edmonton had to put in several environmental safeguards. Some of these safeguards were: a clay liner that prevents leachate from contacting groundwater, a landfill gas collection system that uses lan...
