Question

Landfills are a way to dispose of waste in an area that isolates it from the surrounding environment. The Eastern Sanitary Landfill (ESL) in Baltimore County, Maryland, was built in 1982 and currently acts as the county’s only active landfill. Sanitary landfills are lined with plastic. What type of environmental protection might not be provided by the plastic lining?

Answer 1

The sanitary landfills are the landfills that is kept far away from the human settlement as its leaching and exposure to harmful gases can be dangerous to the human beings. These landfills are kept far away and is protected by the landfill liners so that it does not reaches the human population.

The liners that are used in sanitary landfill is soil or clay as plastic liners can have cracks in them which can contaminate the normal supply of water. The contents can be protected by the lining of the clay or soil.

This might not protect from water pollution and air pollution as leaching and evolution of methane and carbon dioxide can be a problem.

Answer 2

The plastic lining in sanitary land fills do not provide enough environmental protection from the gases (i.e. CO2, methane) that are released by decomposing materials found in garbage. Though this may ensure the protection of the soil or the land, the atmosphere may still be directly affected.