By Idrissa Bangura
The disposal of waste materials has become a matter of great concern as a result of the illegal disposal of waste materials in the streets of capital city and the communities within the proximity of Freetown. On that note, the management of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) has been putting strenuous efforts at all levels geared towards addressing this menace.
Although the management and its team have used many strategies in disposing of waste in specific areas east and west parts of Freetown, landfills remain one of the outstanding management methods in dealing with the growing quantum of generated municipal solid waste.
The consequence of poor landfill management from the perspective of the Bomeh Dump Site in the eastern part of Freetown is totally negative to those people living in that community. The study employed interviews to be able to gather information from previous households. The acquired information was supported by some people from the site management of the facility which has led to the breakdown of some major components of dumpsites.
It also noted that the site poses a threat to the health of the nearby communities owing to the dumpsites or landfills in the uncontrolled dusts, smoke, and activities of vermin as well as scavengers.
The findings revealed that the dumpsites or the landfills in the major parts of Sierra Leone remain threat to the health of the inhabitants of that area.
Poor management of equipment and failure to adhere to best practices has exacerbated conditions of their operation putting the health of the people in danger. Regular monitoring of the site by the EPA and the local government authorities can help reduce the risk of exposure on the nearby communities.
As the human population grows in the urban capital of Freetown, so the amount of solid waste generated keeps soaring as well.
In the last ten years, the quantum of generated waste has doubled. This excessive increase is directly related to the increased rate of urbanization and the shifting pattern of consumption. Landfill is well known in both the developed and the developing world.
In Europe for instance, policies of reuse of waste, recycling and reduction of waste have been heavily promoted despite a large chunk of municipal solid waste still goes to landfills. Among communities in the developing world, people resort to landfilling systems such as open dumping which often remain threat to human health and the environment.
The use of generated landfills is common in Freetown, Sierra Leone and most developing countries despite the rapid rate of urbanization and its concomitant increase in municipal waste. In certain instances, sanitary landfills that are used in most developing countries are operated under poorly managed operational systems. Very often than not, exposure of municipal solid waste to rain result in some decomposition leading to the formation of Leachate.
This dissolved and suspended materials if not properly controlled, may pass through the underlying soil and contaminated sources of drinking water, as well as surface water.
Generally, Leachate contains heavy metals such as iron, copper, manganese, nickel, lead, and other elements such as calcium, magnesium chromium, nitrogen, potassium, and ammonia, often, compound such as phenols, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, acetone, benzene, toluene, and chloroform are formed as well.
Leachate resulting from the landfill is therefore regarded as a dangerous waste substance often difficult to manage because of the prevalence of these heavy metals and compound, and adverse effects of these metals are numerous and depend largely on the type and age of solid waste of a landfill.
Available information paints a gloomy picture and puts sufferers and those exposed to leachate at high risks due to the heavy metal accumulation.
A lot of the adverse impacts result directly from an emission in a form of persistent organic compounds. Pollution from landfills is great and it is estimated to produce about forty million tons of methane annually, a gas with a greater propensity of depleting the zone.
As a result of the enormous risks associated with landfills, its treatment has not also been easy. In the recent past, the use of anaerobic digestion or the aerobic activated sludge method was mainly used but these methods appeared in appropriate for certain complex treatments. However, there have been more rigorous scientific approaches recently refusing more on biological, chemical, and physical methods of treatment.
The Sequencing Batch Reactor [SBR] has been used lately by several countries. For most recent biological treatments, the aerobic treatment consisting of ion- exchange is first of all applied. The use of chemical oxidants such as Fenton’s reagent and UV light is also very commonly used. In Sierra Leone, the Municipal Solid Waste Management is faced with a myriad of challenges ranging from finance, infrastructure, and human resources.
It is common to find a waste been dumped on old quarry sites and unregulated landfills. These landfills remain the endpoint of about sixty five percent of the total waste generated in the Freetown Metropolis alone. The Bomeh Landfill is a classic example of these landfills. The resultant leachate from this remains a threat to the surrounding environs.
Bomeh being the few landfills and serving a huge growing population, concerns have grown over the last few years about the management of the site. The complexity in the construction of engineered landfills lies in the attainment and continuous maintenance and adherence to environmental standards. Even though the Local Government Act and the Environmental Protection Policy have explicated general guidelines for the construction and for the maintenance of landfills in Sierra Leone, the regulatory powers of the Environment lie in the bosom of the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] and the management of waste is the responsibility of the Local Government Council.
The dangers associated with poorly managed landfills are enormous. Leachate has a greater tendency of continuous activity several years after the closure of a landfill site. Inappropriately managed landfills could affect food, water, and air thereby affecting human health. This article assessed the environmental consequence of poor landfill management in reference to the Bomeh Landfill in the Freetown Metropolis of Sierra Leone.