City of Moncton Landfill Site Investigation (November, 2000)
Prepared by the Environmental Bureau of Investigation

Report Summary

The landfill site, located on 35 hectares (87 acres) of riverfront land between the Gunningsville Bridge and the Petitcodiac River causeway, began operating shortly after the causeway was built in 1968. Historical records reference the following notable wastes disposed of at the facility: petroleum waste oil, liquid animal waste, asbestos pipe insulation, urea-formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI), cleaning solution - sodium hydroxide SCA-134, septic waste, sewage sludge and medical wastes. The site was closed in 1992 after 20 years of operation. The investigation focused on three separate areas where leachate was found discharging from the ground. The quantity of leachate discharging from this site is estimated at upwards to 500,000 litres a day, according to the City's own figures.

The site was visited on October 16 and 17, 2000. A pipe (designated as JC pipe) at the northeastern corner was discharging what appeared to be water, which then flowed over the ground for approximately 50 m and ultimately discharged to Jonathan Creek, a tributary of the Petitcodiac River. Two seeps (locations where water emerges from the ground) (designated S-1 and S-2) along the eastern face of the landfill mound also discharged directly to Jonathan Creek. Several pipes emerging from the toe of the waste mound along the southern edge were thought to have been installed for the purpose of conveying leachate to the marshlands adjacent to the northern shore of the Petitcodiac River.

Prior to this visit, water and sediment samples were collected at the JC Pipe and
S-1 on July 19, 2000 and at S-1 on July 20. These samples were analysed for metals and Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at RPC Labs, Fredericton N.B. and a Daphnia magna Bioassay test was performed by Buchanan Environmental Ltd., Fredericton, N.B.

The Daphnia magna Bioassay test is a lethality test, typically of 48 hours duration. It was conducted on three samples: one each from JC Pipe (collected on July 19, 2000), S-1 (collected on July 19, 2000) and S-1 (collected on July 20, 2000). All three water samples were lethal (i.e. 100% mortality) to Daphnia magna in a 48-hour test period.

The results of another water sample collected at JC pipe on July 19, 2000 revealed that ammonia levels exceeded the Canadian Water Quality Guidelines by as much as 15 times. Based on this information, it is most likely that ammonia toxicity was the cause of rapid mortality of the test organisms in the water samples collected from JC pipe on July 19, 2000.

Another series of water and sediment samples was collected on October 25, 2000. The Rainbow Trout Bioassay test was performed on a sample from JC pipe by Buchanan Environmental Ltd., Fredericton, N.B. The report from Buchanan Environmental Ltd. pertaining to this sample found that trout became stressed immediately and died in less than 24 hours when exposed to 25 to 100% concentrations of the water sample.

The ammonia concentration in the water sample collected on October 25, 2000 exceeded the Canadian Water Quality Guidelines for the Protection of Freshwater Aquatic Life by almost 5 times. Based on this data, it is once again most likely that ammonia toxicity was the cause of the rapid mortality of the test organisms in the sample from JC pipe.

Testing revealed that the discharges from JC pipe contained heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, benzene, toluene, xylene, ethylbenzene, traces of PCBs and the pesticide 4,4-DDT. Only toluene exceeded the CWQG-FW by 2.5 times. At low concentrations toluene may cause objectionable odours in fish flesh; at higher concentrations it causes toxicity.

In addition, metals were analysed in 3 sediment samples: JC Pipe and S-1 sampled on July 19 and JC Pipe sampled on October 25. The guidelines were exceeded for arsenic. The guidelines were not exceeded for cadmium, lead, chromium, copper, mercury and zinc.

In conclusion, both the Daphnia magna Bioassay test and the Rainbow Trout Bioassay Test have shown that leachate from the City of Moncton Landfill Site is acutely lethal to aquatic biota. Therefore, the discharge of this leachate, which contains un-ionized ammonia, organic compound and metals, in Jonathan Creek will cause or is likely to cause impairment of the quality of the natural environment for any use that can be made of it.