Landfills

Keith R

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Re: Good luck

Hlywud said:
Keith good luck with the new forum, environmental concerns need be addressed in the DR, sure there are some landfills but not really enough.
Actually, Wud, there are no landfills currently in the DR. They are all dumps. Even the Environment Ministry admits this. I have somewhere in my office here (also a dump at times! :confused: ) a recent technical assessment done for the Ministry that finds most disposal sites in the DR do not even meet WHO/PAHO's definition of "manual" or "controlled" landfill. When Leonel left office in 2000, he had managed to convert Santo Domingo's Duquesa, long a festering dump with frequent fires pouring thick smoke across the city, into nearly a controlled fill. But during Hipo's regime it has been allowed to go downhill, sliding toward open dump status again.

The Ministry has a plan to establish a series of "mini-fills" near key cities. This system once worked well in Lima, Peru, and could in the DR if properly executed and the care is taken on steady maintenance (of course we all know the DR's general track record on maintenance questions! :disappoin ) of the site and its equipment.

Big problem will likely be the politically difficult "not in my backyard" (NIMBY) syndrome. Think about it for a minute: where in the DR would you create a new landfill?

Best Regards,
Keith
 

XanaduRanch

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Re: Re: Good luck

Keith R said:
Big problem will likely be the politically difficult "not in my backyard" (NIMBY) syndrome. Think about it for a minute: where in the DR would you create a new landfill?
Somebody got a list of the Bald Hippo's residences? That'swhere XR would start.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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Santiago has been fighting this question for years

As I posted before my son lost tens of thousands trying to get past the beureaucracy and start a energy/disposal system. The local municipal council is now contemplating a "sanitary landfill--hehehehe

HB
 

Keith R

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HB, where in the Santiago area are they contemplating putting a fill? Are they actually talking a real sanitary fill, with HDPE liner, compactors, daily cover, methane recovery, the works?
 

dms3611

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Cmon Keith......you KNOW they aren't ......

......contemplating that in Santiago.....probably the very best "fill site" (and its not that great) is actually out in Bavaro.

I would love to get into the business with the "holes we dig" but its another service that NO ONE wants to pay for with the exception of some resorts.

Dave
 

lhtown

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I can smell(think strong, stomach-turning smell) Duquesa from my house some evenings and nights. It is so far away that I have never been there and don't even know exactly where it is. I am guessing it is well over 5 miles as the crow flies. All this notwithstanding the fact that there is a substanstial amount of vegetation and a major river between us.
 

Keith R

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Some Facts About The DR's Current Waste Disposal Sites

This information is gleaned from a preliminary diagnostic study done on 13 municipal disposal sites by the Environment Ministry, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the University of Belgium. Field data is from 2001.

The dumps (there isn't a nicer word for what these are) studied were in La Romana (the two known as "La Luisa" & "Cumayasa")& SPM ("Bobadilla") in the East; Ban? ("El Fundo"), Haina ("Los Desamparados") & SD ("Duquesa") in
the Central South; Bonao (Falconbridge), Constanza ("El Arenoso"), Jarabacoa ("La Ceniza"), La Vega ("Solo"), Moca & Santiago ("Rafey") in the Cibao, and Santiago Rodriguez ("Zamba") in the Northeast.

These range in size from just 96 sq.meters for "La Luisa" to 2.8 million sq. meters for "Duquesa."

83% are dumps "managed" (if you can call it that) by the muncipal authorities. Only two are run by private entities -- "Duquesa" in SD is now run by Dise?o y Operaciones Ambientales S.A. (DOAMSA), and the dump in Bonao is run by Falconbridge Dominicana.

75% of these dumps are within 500 meters of a surface water source, the worst cases being in Ban?, Bonao, Moca (less than 50 m. from water's edge!) & Santiago. Hmmm, what does this imply for risks to the water supply in key places of the DR?:confused:

1/3 of the dumps are within 1,500 meters of inhabited places, the worst cases being in Haina, Moca, Santiago & SD. In the cases of Moca & Santiago, the dump "can be found practically within the city." For example "Duquesa" is only 500 m. from SD's city limits, and the barrio "Los Casabes" is within a kilometer from it.

67% of the dumps are right next to agricultural & animal husbandry activities such as farms for plantains, yuca & yautia. Think about that for a
second!
:confused:

Although the diagnosis calls for further study of this question to be certain, it suggests the most worrisome risks of adverse dump influence on aquafers are in La Romana & SPM, and suggests that those for La Vega, Santiago, Santiago Rodriguez & SD are serious enough to consider not just closing these sites, but rather moving the current dump contents to another, safer spot! The study also found possible underground water contamination concern for the dumps in Moca & Bonao.

As for dumps in seismically risky areas, these were found in the cases of Moca, Santiago & Sabaneta.

In all but the case of "La Luisa" there were found to be very bad "smell emissions." (LOL) In 67% there were smoke & gaseous emissions. In the cases of "Duquesa" and "Rafey" serious soil contamination was found. The dumps of Bonao, Jarabacoa & Moca were considered unstable and at risk of spilling into surrounding areas.

All of the dumps receive all kinds of wastes, including hospital, industrial & toxic, even though legally they are not supposed to. Those in Haina & SPM even take in wastes from electrical plants, which can be very toxic.

75% don't even record information on volume, type & origin of the wastes they take in. Only SD & Santiago record the date, amount, producer & driver delivering the waste -- but not type.

None of the dumps take any real measures to prevent environmental contamination.

Covering & compacting is only practiced at dumps in Bonao, La Luisa, Moca & SD (Duquesa).

Burning is done often at the dumps of Ban?, La Romana, La Vega, SPM & Santiago. [Interesting that they don't mention Duquesa, as I recall several significant burns of that dump during my four years living in SD, one that so covered large portions of the city that it even activated my daughter's asthma.]

67% of the dumps are not enclosed, so people can come and go. [Only Duquesa in SD and the dump in Moca try to keep people out.] This happens often, as there are small armies of waste pickers (known in the DR as "buzos") that try to find useful items among the trash, including materials (cardboard, glass Presidente bottles, etc.) that can be sold for cash. Studies show that 75% of these buzos are women and children. [I should note that PAHO, WHO & UNICEF studies have repeatedly shown that such work is a substantial health risk for these people.]

Glass, aluminum, lead (very toxic) & copper are collected by pickers in all of the dumps. Plastics are collected in 9. Cardboard is collected in half.

Despite strong recommendations from PAHO/WHO against it, animals -- principally cows, pigs, dogs & horses -- are allowed to graze in all of the dumps. In the case of the dump in Santiago Rodriguez, there is actually a pig farm next to the dump!:confused:
 
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Keith R

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Re: Cmon Keith......you KNOW they aren't ......

dms3611 said:
......contemplating that in Santiago.....probably the very best "fill site" (and its not that great) is actually out in Bavaro.

I would love to get into the business with the "holes we dig" but its another service that NO ONE wants to pay for with the exception of some resorts.

Dave
Actually, there may be money from the World Bank or IDB (among other possible funding sources) available if the DR agrees to do it right (a big "if," I agree). These funding sources generally don't want management of such sites in municipality hands, however, because their experience in Latin America & Asia suggests that such administrations chronically mismanage fills.
Best Regards,
Keith
 

dms3611

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Take the dump in POP (Maimon area) for instance..........

There is a big open dump about 1 mile "east" of the Riu hotel.

You can often smell it "burning" in the morning in the Maimon area. It is a tad bit harder to see now that they put that
"excellent" fencing system up at the front of the road (ha).

If a sustainable fill system (properly done) was going to work anywhere in the DomRep, this would be the type of area where it should work correctly. There are resorts, hotels, nice homes in the area that you would believe have an incentive to keep their area beautiful and safe from the problems associated with dumps.

BUT THEY DON'T (majority)! They really don't get involved (majority). Everyone wants to pay and "do" (including the resorts) the absolute bare minimum to get rid of the trash.

Now please tell me what do you believe is the trash impact on areas around resorts? You absolutely KNOW that the resorts wrack up an unbelievable amout of daily trash.

Keith, if there are funds available for this type of project (and we wanted to create a viable "ongoing concern") then it seems to me that the "target group" for this improved service would be those that: 1). could be leading as an example for sustained
"environment friendly" landfill use (and could promote themselves as such?); 2). should have the money to pay for the use; and 3). should have an incentive to use it (especially anyone that promotes "eco-tourism" packages).

From a commercial standpoint, and in my opinion, this points to the "tourism sector" with contracts tied to the resorts. It would seem if you are going to convince anyone to "do it right" that you have a decent shot with these folks. You may then be able to add a % of the local trash/garbage (say within x mile area) as the bonus. Starts to clean up slowly but surely...has continuity...done right....but actually does something "right".

From a business standpoint, contracts made with the hotel systems (independent) would seemingly be the ONLY WAY to sustain this activity profitably.
 

Keith R

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Dave,
Excellent post with very good points.

The World Bank actually tried this tact with the North Coast tourist destinations in the mid- to late 1990's. Held a series of consultations with Asonahores, local businesses and local government officials. I know a bit about it because I knew the chief environmental engineer for the Bank involved. As I recall, the local biz people & Asonahores were very supportive. They in fact wanted a collection, treatment & disposal system (plus a wastewater treatment system) run by a private entity with assurances of proper sanitary & quality control, something they could brag about to the Europeans who at that time were some of the biggest source of tourism to PP & Sosua. What they didn't want was to keep it in the hands of the local municipality, with hotels & resturants essentially pouring money into a local waste management system that would not assure proper controls, would have money siphoned off from it and not be maintained properly, eventually failing.

According to my engineer friend (and a local business person familiar with the talks), the local pols refused to play ball. And as the laws & ordinances were at that time (don't know if this is still the case), such a venture could not be started without the local governments granting the right to run private systems. Also, they didn't want to provide an exucse for the local tourism industry to diminish what they paid in taxes.

Maybe this idea can be revived? I know for a fact that the Bank people, and some of the tech people at IDB who were monitoring this case, felt that it was a real shame it did not happen. They had hopes of showing other places in Latin America & the Caribbean how this could be done right....