Increasingly stringent regulation of pollution and waste production worldwide drives the need to isolate contaminants that pose a threat to human and environmental health by using engineered barrier systems involving the use of low permeable materials. Over the past two decades, geosynthetic clay liners have gained widespread acceptance for use in such barrier systems. They are often used as a component of primary and secondary base liners or final cover systems in municipal solid-waste landfills as well as in regulated industrial storage and mining waste-disposal facilities. This book gives a comprehensive and authoritative review of the current state of practice on geosynthetic clay liners in waste containments. It provides an insight into individual materials (bentonite and the associated geosynthetics) and the manufacturing processes. This is followed by the coverage of important topics such as hydraulic conductivity, chemical compatibility, contaminant transport, gas migration, shear strength and slope stability, and field performance.

President Carter's 1980 declaration of a state of emergency at Love Canal, New York, recognized that residents' health had been affected by nearby chemical waste sites. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, enacted in 1976, ushered in a new era of waste management disposal designed to protect the public from harm. It required that modern waste containment systems use "engineered" barriers designed to isolate hazardous and toxic wastes and prevent them from seeping into the environment. These containment systems are now employed at thousands of waste sites around the United States, and their effectiveness must be continually monitored. Assessment of the Performance of Engineered Waste Containment Barriers assesses the performance of waste containment barriers to date. Existing data suggest that waste containment systems with liners and covers, when constructed and maintained in accordance with current regulations, are performing well thus far. However, they have not been in existence long enough to assess long-term (postclosure) performance, which may extend for hundreds of years. The book makes recommendations on how to improve future assessments and increase confidence in predictions of barrier system performance which will be of interest to policy makers, environmental interest groups, industrial waste producers, and industrial waste management industry.

Solid Waste Landfilling: Concepts, Processes, Technology provides information on technologies that promote stabilization and minimize environmental impacts in landfills. As the main challenges in waste management are the reduction and proper treatment of waste and the appropriate use of waste streams, the book satisfies the needs of a modern landfill, covering waste pre-treatment, in situ treatment, long-term behavior, closure, aftercare, environmental impact and sustainability. It is written for practitioners who need specific information on landfill construction and operation, but is also ideal for those concerned about the possible return of these sites to landscapes and their subsequent uses for future generations. - Includes input by international contributors from a vast number of disciplines - Provides worldwide approaches and technologies - Showcases the interdisciplinary nature of the topic - Focuses on sustainability, covering the lifecycle of landfills under the concept of minimizing environmental impact - Presents knowledge of the legal framework and economic aspects of landfilling

Earth scientists and geotechnical engineers are increasingly challenged to solve environmental problems related to waste disposal facilities and cleanup of contaminated sites. The effort has given rise to a new discipline of specialists in the field of environmental geotechnology. To be effective, environmental geotechnologists must not only be armed with the traditional knowledge of fields such as geology and civil engineering, but also be knowledgeable of principles of hydrogeology, chemistry, and biological processes. In addition, the environmental geotechnologist must be completely up to date on the often complex cadre of local and national regulations, must comprehend the often complex legal issues and sometimes mind-boggling financial impli cations of a project, and must be able to communicate effectively with a host of other technical specialists, regulatory officials, attorneys, local land owners, journalists, and others. The field of environmental geo technology will no doubt continue to offer unique challenges. The purpose of this book is to summarize the current state of practice in the field of environmental geotechnology. Part One covers broadly applicable principles such as hydrogeology, geochemistry, and con taminant transport in soil and rock. Part Two describes in detail the underlying principles for design and construction of new waste disposal facilities. Part Three covers techniques for site remediation. Finally, Part Four addresses the methodologies for monitoring. The topics of 'waste disposal' and 'site remediation' are extra ordinarily broad.

Solid waste landfills serve as municipal waste containment facilities. Presently, landfills are required to accommodate as much volume of waste as possible while isolating the waste from surrounding air, soil and ground water. With the intention to provide sufficient space for the increasing waste volumes, modified landfill designs have been implemented which incorporate designs with steep side slopes. Although the National Norms and Standards for Disposal of Waste to Landfill provide the minimum requirements and state that alternative design layouts for landfill slopes exceeding 1H:4V may be considered, the new implementation could increase the risk of landfill instability (Department of Environmental Affairs, 2013a; Emery, 2014). Research has shown that instability problems may be associated with shear failure (Russell, et al., 1998; Kim, 2006; Feng, et al., 2010; Duffy, 2016). In such cases, the safety of these containment facilities depends on the shear strength properties of the landfill boundary conditions and construction materials. As a result, proper understanding of shear strength parameters is essential in ensuring safe designs.

Clay geosynthetic barriers are most frequently used in environmental areas, such as landfill cover systems. This work discusses the durability and lifetime aspects of clay geosynthetic barriers related to the synthetic yarns and fibres.