Protect communities from landfill leachate

Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, Greater Accra Regional Minister, has charged managers of the Kpone Landfill, near Tema, to stop the spillage of leachate from the dump into adjoining communities.

The landfill, which is accessed by almost all refuse collection companies in the Accra and Tema metropolises, is jointly managed by the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) and Zoomlion, a waste management company.


Nii Afotey Agbo, who paid an unannounced visit to the site, said communities around the site could not continue to suffer from the indiscretion of the landfill management.


“Look at the possibility of creating a spillway for the dump so that when the leachate become too much to contain, it finds a way out,” he directed. “It is a bad substance, which should not flow into areas where people live or earn their living.”


Alhaji Issah Tetteh, District Chief Executive of Kpone Katamanso, told the Ghana News Agency that the last spillage happened last Saturday, thus creating panic and anger among the people.


He called for the collaboration of stakeholders to solve the problem before it reached proportions beyond the capacity of the Assembly.

Although the landfill site is within the political boundaries of the Kpone Kantamanso District, it is being supervised by the TMA.


Environmental experts refer to leachate as water acquiring properties from the refuse that it contacts.


They say because decomposing material most easily forms leachate, the substance is most commonly born in areas with large amounts of refuse, like landfills.


The leachate, formed in landfills, they say, could be dangerous because of the many hazardous substances these areas contain.


“For instance, if rain washes over a stack of discarded lead pipes or a pile of used needles, it could transfer the contaminants from those objects to people, plants, and animals, if it is consumed or contacted,” explained the Canada based Scott Environment Group Limited, on its website page.