INDIA: Leachate samples collected from Bandhwari landfill found to be toxic

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INDIA: Leachate samples collected from Bandhwari landfill found to be toxic

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Leachate samples collected from Bandhwari landfill found to be toxic

Hindustan Times - August 30, 2021

By Suparna Roy, Gurugram

Three samples from the Bandhwari landfill were tested by HSPCB in the second week of August. According to the report, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), zinc, chloride, fluoride were all found to be significantly higher than permissible norms. Presence of fluoride, which impacts bones, was also found.

Samples of leachate collected from the Bandhwari landfill in the second week of August were found to contain chemicals in excess of the permissible limits as well as toxic substances, according to the results of the tests released by the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) last week.

The samples were collected from three sites, including the outlet of a leachate treatment plant, and ponds that had formed outside the landfill and on forest land in the vicinity.

Vaishali Rana Chandra, a city-based environmentalist who had complained about the issue to the pollution control board on August 10, said, “Untreated leachate is being discharged in the jungle, which the report clearly shows is highly toxic. This is a damning report on the basis of which Ecogreen’s contract should be suspended immediately.”

However, officials of Ecogreen Energy, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram’s concessionaire for waste management at Bandhwari landfill, said that these levels were found in leachate and not the water released after treatment. He said that they have also fixed a broken wall through which leachate spilt outside due to excessive rainfall.

Sanjeev Sharma, the spokesperson for Ecogreen Energy, said, “These high levels of COD [chemical oxygen demand], BOD [biological oxygen demand] and other elements have been found in leachate water and not the treated water released from the plant. Our Disc Tube Reverse Osmosis (DTRO) system used to treat leachate is working properly and the samples collected from there are all as per the norms.”

On August 10, officials had denied that the pond outside the landfill contained leachate and said that it was accumulated rainwater.

According to the report, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), zinc, chloride, fluoride were all found to be significantly higher than permissible norms.

The BOD level of the samples collected from a pond inside the forest area was 540 mg/l, while the COD was 1680 mg/l, chloride was 420mg/l and fluoride was 1mg/l. The BOD level of the samples collected from the outlet of leachate treatment plant was 520 mg/l, while the COD was 1640 mg/l. The BOD level for samples collected from a leachate pond was 640 mg/l and COD level was 1780 mg/l. For treated leachate, the BOD level was 12 mg/l while COD was 64mg/l.

Experts said that elements such as fluoride, even in minuscule quantities, can be harmful as it affects bones in the human body. According to Central Pollution Control Board norms, BOD for a river or waterbody should be less than 30mg/l and COD should be less than 250 mg/l.

The report also mentions that elements traces of nickel and lead were not detected in the samples, despite battery waste (which contains lead) being dumped in the area.

“The HSPCB report states that heavy metals like lead and chromium were not detected in the leachate samples. Even a layman can infer that this would be a gross anomaly as it is impossible to not have these two elements in the leachate being released from mixed municipal waste consisting of batteries, phones, electric wires. Heavy metals are detected even in drinking water at times,” a letter sent by three city-based environmentalists to the chief secretary of Haryana stated.

Vinod Kumar Mogha, an independent consultant working on environmental projects, after an analysis of the report, said, “First, both BOD and COD being on the extremely higher side is extremely toxic; then fluoride is so harmful that it can melt one’s bones. It should not have been detected in the sample, but it is, again, on the higher side. The report is contradictory as battery wastage is dumped in the same area, but it has not been detected.”

“These elements are signs that the whole area is contaminated and any vegetation growing on that soil will also have these substances,” he said.

A senior official of the pollution control board, who did not wish to be named, said, “We have released the report, but we are yet to look into it in detail. At present, work is being done for the public hearing scheduled for Tuesday, where people can raise their concerns.”

A public hearing has been scheduled by HSPCB to discuss concerns over setting up a waste-to-energy plant at the landfill site. Residents have been protesting against the plan on the grounds that it could endanger the ecologically sensitive forest land.

SOURCE: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/g ... 68087.html
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