Assessment of marshland soil attenuation capacity : experimental study

ABSTRACT The adsorption characteristics of a marshland soil were studied to evaluate its potential attenuation for various chemical constituents typically present in municipal landfill leachate solution. This study is part of an overall investigation to estimate the long-term attenuation capacity of a marshland system which is located in the vicinity of a landfill located near Pembroke, Ontario. The results of this investigation suggest that significant retardation of two heavy metals (lead and zinc) as well as synthetic organic such as pentachlorophenol (PCP) should be foreseen. It has also been demonstrated that heavy metals can be attenuated by the soil matrix. The findings from this study suggest that the low level of heavy metals and organic contaminants as measured in the subject landfill leachate solution are not expected to pose a threat to the natural environment.