Solid waste disposal test program for a coal-fired power plant

The St. Johns River Power Park (SJRPP) is a coal-fired power plant located in Jacksonville, Florida. As part of their solid-waste management plan, SJRPP conducted studies to characterize their coal-combustion by-products, and designed a solid-waste test program to monitor the physical and chemical behavior of the by-products in the disposal environment. The objective of these studies and the test program is to predict the effect of solid-waste leachate on groundwater quality. The laboratory studies included tests of physical properties and leachate quality of the solid wastes. The results of the tests and predictive modeling have been used to estimate leachate migration into the groundwater, and the effect of leachate on groundwater quality. This paper focuses on the solid waste test program. It contains protocol to monitor landfill operations, the quality of groundwater, the quality and quantity of leachate and runoff, and procedures for data analysis. A lined solid-waste test cell is a central feature of the test program. The test cell was constructed to simulate the unlined landfill areas and provides a means for collecting leachate and runoff samples for analysis. It will provide the first information concerning leachate quality and generation rates.