Investigation of the groundwater contamination around landfill where slaughtered animals were buried

This study was designed to investigate if there were groundwater contamination in 17 landfill where slaughtered animals were buried during the crisis of 2002 foot-and-mouth-disease (FMD) outbreaks in Gyeonggi province. From March to August 2005 groundwater was collected once a month from 17 sites, and examined with potential for hydrogen (pH), colour, turbidity, lead (Pb), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) , iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) , aluminium (Al), nitrate-nitrogen $(NO_3-N)$, ammonia-nitrogen $(NH_3-N)$, microbial pathogen and Escherichia spp. In the examination of $NH_3-N$ which of the mean concentration was from not-detected (ND) to 0.05 mg/l. The range of $NH_3-N$ level was $0.3-24.1mg/{\ell}$. However, groundwater from four sites was to go beyond the drinking water quality standard (DWQS), i.e., the mean concentration of those were $15.5mg/{\ell}\;(site\;1),\;20.7mg/{\ell}\;(site\;9),\;24.1mg/{\ell}\;(site\;13)\;and\;10.6mg/{\ell}\;(site\;17)$. In the investigation of pH, colour and turbidity, all of the pH were below of DWQS (pH 5.8-6.6), but one site in color test and four sites in turbidity test were over the standard level. Among 9 metal ions examined, Mn was in excess of DWQS, and its concentration was $2.4mg/{\ell}$. Pb, Cd, Hg and As were not traced. The contents of Cu, Zn, Fe and Al were $ND-0.22mg/{\ell},\;0.01-0.05mg/{\ell},\;ND-0.05mg/{\ell}\;and\;0.03-0.16mg/{\ell}$, respectively. Escherichiae spp were not identified, but bacterial colonies were detected at 3 groundwater including 2 sites over the DWQS at the level of $491CFU/m{\ell}\;(site\;4)\;and\;217CFU/m{\ell}\;(site\;15)$.