Description
Recently in the news, media coverage of flood events has garnered much attention due to tropical storms like Hurricane Matthew and the costly damages that resulted. Under climate change, events like sea-level rise (SLR) and flooding threaten infrastructure, which make it necessary for proper planning before, during, and after installation to mitigate risk. Studies in Austria and the UK have revealed that many landfills are located in flood zones as well as coastal areas effected by coastal erosion. In the U.S. however, there have not been publications on landfill locations related to flood events and SLR. The interest of gaining knowledge on flood prone and SLR at-risk landfills is that studies reveal that inundation of landfills can spread contaminants to other areas (e.g. marshes) that can have both ecological and health risks. To begin addressing this issue, figuring out what landfills are at risk from floods or sea level rise, how many, and the extent to which they could become inundated or eroded is the focus of this study. Using GIS software, and publicly available data, maps of landfills were created in the gulf-state area of the United States with flood and rising sea level data to then be analyzed and categorized based on spatial risks. Although incomplete, the study has shown the potential for hundreds of landfills to be at risk from either flooding, SLR, or both.
Location
Stewart Center 302
Start Date
11-2016
Document Type
Other
Keywords
landfills, flood, sea-level rise
Included in
Spatial analysis of landfills in respect to flood events and sea-level rise
Stewart Center 302
Recently in the news, media coverage of flood events has garnered much attention due to tropical storms like Hurricane Matthew and the costly damages that resulted. Under climate change, events like sea-level rise (SLR) and flooding threaten infrastructure, which make it necessary for proper planning before, during, and after installation to mitigate risk. Studies in Austria and the UK have revealed that many landfills are located in flood zones as well as coastal areas effected by coastal erosion. In the U.S. however, there have not been publications on landfill locations related to flood events and SLR. The interest of gaining knowledge on flood prone and SLR at-risk landfills is that studies reveal that inundation of landfills can spread contaminants to other areas (e.g. marshes) that can have both ecological and health risks. To begin addressing this issue, figuring out what landfills are at risk from floods or sea level rise, how many, and the extent to which they could become inundated or eroded is the focus of this study. Using GIS software, and publicly available data, maps of landfills were created in the gulf-state area of the United States with flood and rising sea level data to then be analyzed and categorized based on spatial risks. Although incomplete, the study has shown the potential for hundreds of landfills to be at risk from either flooding, SLR, or both.