Tajiguas has a leak, which forms a plume underground. The leak is a serious potential problem if it threatens to go beyond the landfill boundary. Since this is an unlined landfill, there is an ongoing leak. A collection trench was built by the county. Staff estimates that 50 percent of the leachate is recovered.
Clean water flows under and around the landfill and mixes with the leachate from the landfill.
This combination is the source of the contamination leak. Four of them are in a line down slope. These are used to determine the water quality and direction of the plume. Sedimentation basins are supposed to slow runoff and reduce silt. However, after a storm, a large area of the ocean opposite the landfill is discolored with silt.