In early April 2017, SIP Lvse Jiangnan Public Environment Concerned Centre (hereinafter referred to as “PECC”) received a report from residents of Beishe Town in Wujiang District, Suzhou City, saying that there was a lot of landfill leachate on Shexi Road, Wujiang District, Suzhou City. It seriously affected the living environment of local residents, and it was suspected that there was irregular operation of garbage disposal at the garbage transfer station. They hoped to get help from PECC.
On April 12th, PECC’s staffs went to the site where residents reported to conduct research.
After that, the staffs of PECC went to the reporting site several times to inspect the site and found that there were two leachate pools in the landfill. PECC’s staff found that the stench of the leachate pool was overwhelming, and the smell was extremely uncomfortable. The black landfill leachate kept bubbling, and the surrounding trees turned yellow and were on the verge of dying.
Figure 1: Location map of the landfill and the landfill leachate pool
Figure 2: No. 1 Landfill Leachate Pool
Figure 3: A row of holly bushes by the pond withered yellow and were on the verge of dying
It was found at the scene that there were two water pumps in the northwest corner of the No. 1 landfill leachate pool pumping a large amount of sewage to the landfill. According to on-site observation, the untreated sewage of the landfill leachate was discharged into another area.
Figure 4: Two pumps at work
Figure 5: Aerial view of No. 2 landfill leachate pool
Located in the northwest corner of the landfill, the water body of No. 2 waste leachate pool is like ink, emitting a burst of stench. Most of the yellow and white parts of the garbage are from the solid waste of the enterprise, which coincides with the residents’ reflection that the landfill is not only landfilling domestic garbage, but also a large portion of solid waste of the enterprise.
Figure 6: No.2 waste leachate pool
On May 1st, 2017, PECC submitted the “Environmental Research Report on Landfill Leachate Pool in Beishe Town, Wujiang District, Suzhou City” to the relevant environmental protection department.
On May 12th, 2017, regarding the issue of “Wujiang Leachate” raised in the research report submitted by PECC to the Environmental Protection Bureau on May 1st, Director Chen of the Letters and Visits Office of the Suzhou Environmental Protection Bureau, Director Song of the Wujiang Environmental Protection Bureau, and Director Chen of the Economic Development Bureau, Director Zhang of the Social Affairs Bureau and relevant persons in charge of the enterprise visited PECC. The representatives of the enterprise also listed the plans to be implemented, which are roughly as follows: 1. Control the water flow 2. Treat the tail water 3. Protect the ecology. At the end of the meeting, the environmental protection department hopes that PECC can have more supervision and guidance, and welcomes PECC to monitor the progress of governance at any time.
On May 15th, PECC came to the site again to investigate and found that the site had been circled and rectified, and the treatment facilities of the landfill leachate had been put in place and had started work. The local Environmental Protection Bureau has intercepted the outlet to eliminate secondary pollution of the leachate. At the same time, PECC communicated with the relevant staff of the Environmental Protection Bureau to exchange their ideas and opinions.
On May 18th, the staffs of PECC came here again to inspect and found that the rectification had begun on the site, the seepage pit of garbage had been landfilled, the identification of the relevant area had been clarified, and the rectification work had begun in full swing.
Figure 7: The landfill pit is being renovated
On July 27th, when PECC went to the site for investigation again, it was found that a large amount of black and smelly landfill leachate at the entrance disappeared from sight. However, when the staffs of PECC arrived near the leachate pool, they were surprised at the scene. There was not much leachate left in the leachate pool, and the remaining black and smelly leachate was excavated without any treatment. The deep trench is drained into a dark pipe. When the staffs of PECC investigated and sorted out the discharge location, they found that the original hidden pipe was buried under the road, and the pipe went straight through the road to the opposite natural body of water.
Figure 8: Landfill leachate is discharged to the water body across the road through a hidden pipe
Figure 9: The large areas of water have been polluted
On the same day (July 27th, 2017), PECC wrote a “Letter to All Environmental Protection Departments” and submitted it to all relevant environmental protection departments.
On August 10th, 2017, Wujiang Environmental Protection Bureau replied: (1) The landfill was closed in early May; (2) The above manhole cover and the diversion channel of temporary rainwater have been sealed on August 3th, the ground water has also been cleared, and the pipe with the abandoned fish pond on the north side has been cut off; (3) The damming of the sludge pond has been completed; (4) The original leach pad on the west side was mulched in July. The landfill has been capped in June; (5) The new facilities of wastewater pretreatment have been installed and have been put into use in August. There are currently two sets of facilities of wastewater pretreatment with a processing capacity of 250 tons per day. After pretreatment, the wastewater will be transported to Luxu Sewage Treatment Plant in Wujiang District, Suzhou City for disposal after pretreatment; (6) The abandoned fish pond on the north side has been arranged for ecological restoration.
The environmental violation of this landfill has been filed and punished. On December 12th, 2017, PECC once again went to the location of the landfill leachate on Beishe West Road to investigate and learned that the process of the on-site treatment was in progress. The seepage pit has been covered before, and it can be completely treated in about two years.
The written replies from Wujiang Environmental Protection Bureau are as follows:
This project is the “Sniper Battle of Water Pollution of Tai Lake” project of the East China Center of SEE.
Thanks to Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology (SEE) for its financial support. The content and opinions in this article only represent the author’s personal views and have nothing to do with the position or policies of SEE