Site Suitability for Solid Waste Disposal by Natural Attenuation Near Coastal Area

Solid waste disposal using land filling method is becoming increasingly popular all over the world. Is consists of two design concepts, namely natural attenuation and containment sites. The natural attenuation concept uses soil as liners. The soil properties of liners such as permeability, liquid limit and plastic index, percentage of clay content, particle size and soil particles distributions may influence the concentration and movement of leachate into the surrounding ground water. Beside the above-mentioned properties, some other possible aspects influencing the concentration of leachate are the movement of molecules into porous materials and the interface action between polluted ground water and salt water from the sea. Besides the value of soil permeability coefficient may change due to settlement and consolidation of solid waste. 

This study is to investigate the effectiveness of soil functioning as liners in natural attenuation concept. The purpose is to determine the suitability of soil properties near coastal areas. The research done covers the soil parameters, permeability coefficient values, and the effect to the concentration of leachate. Marine soil properties near coastal areas can control the leachate concentration besides settlement and consolidation effects. The research shows that the soil characteristic has fulfilled the specification made for soil that functions as liners. This show that marine soil can be used as liners for land filling. The research is carried out at the landfill area situated at Teluk Kitang, Kota Bharu, Kelantan. The finding of this research indicates the suitability of marine soil as liners. It is recommended to further the studies in other marine located in other parts of Peninsular Malaysia.