Leachate migration from a pesticide waste disposal site in Hardeman County, Tennessee

Between 1964 and 1972, approximately 300,000 drums (55-gallon steel barrels) of waste derived from the manufacturing of pesticides were buried on 45 acres of land in northern Hardemen County, Tennessee. Leachates from these wastes are migrating from the disposal site in surface runoff, through shallow perched water zones, and through the local water-table aquifer. Compounds identified in the leachates included: dieldrin, endrin , chlordene, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, pentachlorocyclopentadiene, and hexachloro-bicycloheptadiene. The rate of migration of some of the leachate compounds in the water-table aquifer was found to be at least 80 feet per year. (Woodard-USGS)