SOIL CONTAMINATION CAUSED BY URBAN SOLID WASTE LEACHATE

Almost 60% of waste disposal sites in Brazil are open dumps with no
infrastructure for environmental protection. It is usual to find uncovered waste. The rainwater
runs off over the uncovered top of the waste dump. This water may contaminate the soil. This
paper discusses the contamination values in the soil from toxic metals, caused by the contact of
the soil with this leachate. Soil samples were taken from six holes near the waste dump at six
different depths. Two sampling jobs were undertaken during a dry and a wet season. Relatively
high values of soil contamination near the open dump can be noted from the soil contamination
profiles.