Vulnerability and risk modeling of groundwater contamination in areas used for urban solid waste disposal

Abstract

Considering the necessity to provide studies that validate methodologies for the analysis of environmental impacts, the purpose of this study was to relate the polluting potential of an open dump, located in a Brazilian municipality, with the vulnerability of the area which it is inserted, using a potential pollutant factor (I_p, as a risk factor for contamination) and the DRASTIC model of groundwater susceptibility analysis. The site chosen as a case study for this analysis was an area used for disposal of municipal solid waste produced in the municipality of Divinópolis, west of Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The disposal site can be characterized as an open dump because it has no control mechanism for the various forms of pollution caused. When applying the DRASTIC index to the study area, values between 76 and 79 were obtained, which show that, despite the variation in values, the DRASTIC index values characterize the area as being of low vulnerability to contamination groundwater. The obtained pollution index was 15.1, showing a high capacity of contamination, referring to areas whose immediate intervention proves necessary.

Keywords

• Contaminação de solos. Áreas degradadas. Resíduos sólidos urbanos.