One important and overlooked source of landfill failures is lightning from thunderstorms. As most of our readers know, a landfill is a bathtub in the ground. The bathtub can leak through its bottom, or it can fill up with fluids and leak over its sides. The cap is supposed to act as an umbrella, preventing rain from filling up the bathtub and preventing the formation of toxic leachate that might pour out the bottom if the bottom leaked. When the cap is destroyed, nature will begin to distribute the contents of the landfill into the local environment, using water as the vehicle for distribution.
Lightning packs a tremendous wallop when it strikes the ground.
Lightning bolts last only a few millionths of a second, but they typically involve five million volts and anywhere from 2,500 to 220,000 amperes of current. Lightning can bore large holes in the ground where it strikes. A large hole bored by lightning can be eight inches in diameter and can reach to a depth of 15 feet. Because buried telephone cables need protection, a lot of data has been collected on the frequency of lightning strikes. Frontal-type storms produce more lightning strikes per storm.