Leach-ate is a problem that isn't talked about much in the environmental conversation (in my nine months of experience). It starts as rainfall, and travels down through the waste that exist in landfills. Along the way, it collects toxic metals that are contained such as cadmium, lead, mercury. This in turn makes its way down into the groundwater, poisoning it and making it undrinkable to all people and unsuitable for fish habitats.
In class, we discussed how many landfills don't meed to the requirements to properly decompose and can be a potential leach-ate producer for decades. This is why most landfills that were constructed in modern times have a layer of clay and plastic along the bottom to stop the infiltration from occurring. Our practice for the AP exams also cover the fact that the leach-ate can be captured and converted into water for other uses like drinking water or plumbing.
A question I have is for you, Mr. Schreer. Do you read all these? I tried all year to make you laugh and I don't even know if you see it. I've enjoyed this class quite a bit, it has been the only science class I've looked forward to coming to, much less get a decent grade in.
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