Landfills 6.5 Additional considerations Site remediation Site remediation falls outside the domain of routine landfill operations. However, problems may develop at a closed or current site that require the municipal authority to conduct remedial action. Remedial actions are almost always more costly than prevention. A commonly used option in carrying out major site remediation is excavation.
Excavation involves the removal of deposited waste from a selected area of the landfill.
If landfill space is scarce, this material may be composted to create additional disposal space at the landfill. If the objective is a remedial action in the excavated area, the appropriate corrective action, such as the installation of a leachate barrier or collection system, may be performed and the area refilled, compacted, and resealed. More aggressive remediation technologies are available. These include the sequestration of groundwater, soil washing, thermal treatment of soil, vitrification, and the use of microbial agents. The cost of these technologies is likely to make them unavailable to most developing countries.