Lateral movement of contaminated ground water from Merrill Field Landfill, Anchorage, Alaska

A sanitary landfill used in Anchorage, Alaska, since the 1940 's was closed in 1987. Leachate from the landfill does not appear to be contaminating a small creek flowing through a conduit in the landfill, but leachate is being transported by groundwater into a wetlands to the south. An electromagnetic survey of the unconfined aquifer and subsequent sampling from wells indicate that minor amounts of contaminants have reached much of the wetlands as far as Chester Creek, about 2,200 ft to the south. However, concentrations of these contaminants in the groundwater are generally less than U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for drinking water except within the landfill itself. (USGS)