A case study of nuisance impact screening for municipal waste landfill planning

Abstract

Nuisance impacts from waste facilities can aggravate community resistance because odor, noise and visual impacts trigger more serious concerns about impacts on community health, image and property values (1). In order to assess nuisances, initial site selection processes for municipal landfills should use screening models to determine potential nuisance impact zones. Predicted impact zones could provide a basis to plan buffer zones and mitigation efforts. This research work identifies simple screening models and required data to predict air quality, odors, noise and visual impacts. The predicted results are compared with measured values for odors, noise and visual impacts at a landfill that exhibits typical characteristics of the landfills in Western Canada, Washington and Oregon. The results show that simple predictive methods fairly accurately describe the facility's nuisance footprint. Landfill gas migration and dispersion affect odors up to 500 m downwind and may serve as indicators for potential health risks. Noise and visual impacts occur within 200 to 300 m of the site boundary. These areas can either be designated as buffer zones or alternatively, mitigation measures (berms, vegetation and landscaping) can be used to protect sensitive land uses and reduce community annoyance.

Keywords:

• Landfill impacts
• nuisances
• screening
• mitigation