Studies concerning soil contamination and their mechanisms have been explored more and more due to the long term security requirements demanded for residue containment systems. In this sense, the accumulation of some heavy metals, the impermeabilization capacity of the soil directly below a cell of the solid waste landfill of the Muribeca county, and the physicochemical characteristics of the leachate were investigated. Concentration profiles of heavy metals and volatile solids in the soil indicated the existence of a contamination plume towards the bottom, also showing occurrence of a wide range of concentrations of the analyzed metals, related to the concentration of each species in the leachate. Preferentially, Lead, Copper and Manganese were the absorbed metals and they presented a mean saturation velocity of the plume of 2.3 x 10-2 m/year, indicating an advective-dispersive transport, in disagreement with the soil texture.
Contamination; soil; heavy metals; municipal solid waste
