Landfills near the Susquehanna River pose numerous environmental problems that pose health threats to nearby communities, waterways, and wildlife. These threats may include:
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Methane gas release.
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Loss of habitat for wildlife.
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Old landfills may not have liners and thus leachate seeps into the ground and the water.
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New landfills do have liners but these may have leaks.
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Leachate may have high levels of ammonia which produces nitrate when in contact with the ecosystem, and this nitrate can create dead zones in waterways.
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Leachate can have radioactivity.
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Groundwater and river water contamination with chemicals or solvents.
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Groundwater and river water contamination with PFAS, which are toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as “forever chemicals” because they do not leave the body.