Environmental Implications of the Discharge of Municipal Landfill Leachate into the Densu River and Surrounding Ramsar Wetland in the Accra Metropolis, Ghana

Abstract

Investigations were conducted over a six-month period on leachate which continuously egresses from a “natural attenuation” landfill site into a fragile ecosystem in the Accra Metropolis, Ghana. Most physico-chemical, oxygen demand parameters and nutrient contents were within permissible limits but Total Dissolved Solids (1124 - 13200 mg/l), conductivity (7960 - 24890 µS/cm), Mn (0.12 - 0.94 mg/l), Ca<sup>2+</sup> (160 - 356 mg/l) and, more especially chloride contents (1030 - 2967 mg/l) far exceeded respective World Health Organisation (WHO) limits for effluent discharge into the natural environment. Multivariate statistics using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis (CA) suggest significant concentrations of Ca<sup>2+</sup>, Cl<sup>-</sup>, and to a lesser extent Zn, Cd, Mn and PO<sub>4</sub><sup style="margin-left:-7px;">2-</sup> relative to the river water samples. Because the landfill was abandoned recently (in 2009), degradation and other breakdown processes of waste material may only have just began, suggesting that the uncontrolled and continuous discharge of chloride and some heavy metal-laden leachate could, in the long-term, substantially impact negatively on the Ramsar Densu wetland and surrounding water bodies, soil and nearby marine ecosystem

Heavy metal contamination assessment of groundwater quality: a case study of Oti landfill site, Kumasi

“…The high level of Fe at site L 1 suggests that Fe and steel scrap were dumped at the landfill site. The levels of Fe from this study were higher than that of the 2.05-18.0 mg/L reported by Nyame et al (2012) at Accra Metropolis, Ghana. However, the levels of Fe were Kanmani and Gandhimathi (2013) in Tamil Nadu and Tiruchirappalli landfill, India, respectively.…”

“…Considering the different types of soil contamination, heavy metals are considered one of the most challenging environmental issues because of their persistence, non-biodegradability, toxicity, and bioaccumulation (Alloway 2013). Heavy metal pollution of groundwater and surface water surrounding the landfill sites has identified as the most severe environmental issues in many developing countries including Ghana (Kumar and Alappat 2005;Longe and Balogun 2010;Nartey et al 2012;Nyame et al 2012;Osei et al 2011). The majority of earlier studies focus on assessing heavy metals pollution hazards in groundwater environments due to their toxicity (Azizi et al 2015;Cheng et al 2013;Huang et al 2011;Kucuksezgin et al 2006).…”

Occurrence of microplastics in wild oysters (Crassostrea tulipa) from the Gulf of Guinea and their potential human exposure

“…This could be attributable to the recent encroachment and expansion activities within its buffer zone, which have led to the construction of large-scale commercial activities such as the establishment of industries, hotels, and residential facilities that discharge their waste straight into the estuary. The worse of these is the establishment of the Oblogo dump site within proximity of the water banks coupled with other unauthorized dump sites created by communities dotted along the estuary which serve as key sources of plastic pollution for the Densu river ( Osei et al., 2011 ; Nyame et al., 2012 ). Microplastic abundance from densely populated and industrialized settlements is projected to be higher than that from rural settlements characterized by minimal human activities.…”

Ecotoxicological Effect of Aged Wood Leachates to Aquatic Organisms

“…The difference in the ion concentration by these wood leachates might be due to their different chemical composition, because it has been reported by [36] that different wood species yield different leachate compositions, which corresponds to their chemical composition. All the leachates conductivity were above the acceptable range for discharge into freshwater, that indicates the possibility of changing the quality of water when discharged without treatment [37].…”