When the garbage is placed on the landfill, it is compacted three to five times. Compacting the garbage helps to prevent fires from starting in the garbage and it keeps rats away. The landfill also has only a limited amount of space, so compacting garbage also allows more garbage to be sent there.
After compacting the garbage, the operators of the landfill cover up all the new
garbage in a five-inch layer of dirt. This helps to keep birds, seagulls, and rats away. It also reduces the odor that the landfill puts out to the surrounding community.
The landfill is built in the shape of a bathtub. It has a four to five foot layer of clay and a 60-milliliter layer of plastic lining. This ensures that no contaminated water from the landfill will enter the water supply. To further protect against
this, the landfill operators remove water from the landfill every day and send it to a treatment center.
Eventually, the landfill will reach its capacity and it will not be possible to place any more garbage on it. At that point, the garbage will be covered up with grass and the area will be used as a skiing area, golf course, model airplane flying field, or bike trail.
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