Waste burial in arid environments - Application of Information from a field laboratory in the Mojave Desert, Southern Nevada

Abstract

Because of the potentially harmful effect of improper waste disposal on water resources in the arid West, comprehensive laboratory and field studies are critical to identifying likely contaminant-release pathways and the potential for waste migration at arid sites. However, the quandary for those charged with assessment of the suitability of potential disposal sites is that site characterization and evaluation must be accomplished in a relatively short period of time-only 1 to 2 years. Data collection at the Mojave Desert field laboratory provides the needed long-term benchmark against which short-term data from proposed arid sites can be compared. The data base and monitoring facilities developed at the field laboratory also provide an excellent foundation upon which to build collaborative efforts with universities and local, State, and other Federal agencies to further the study and understanding of hydrologic processes in an arid environment.