Innovative Design of a Pulp and Paper Landfill for Stone-Consolidated Corp. in the Quebec St. Maurice Valley, 1994 Environmental Conference Proceedings

Vincent G. Fournier, Florent Villeneuve

Stone-Consolidated Corp. of Montreal, Quebec, (whose major shareholder is Stone Container Corp. of Chicago, Illinois) recently began operation of a new landfill to satisfy the needs of its three closely located pulp and paper mills in the Quebec St. Maurice Valley. An innovative landfill design was developed based on the full use of the exceptionally favorable subsurface conditions at the site which consist of a one to three-meter thick sand layer resting on a significant impervious clay deposit. A composite cutoff wall was built of a soil-bentonite mixture and a HDPE (High density polyethylene) geomembrane along the site periphery.

Internal ditches collect and evacuate runoff water from the unused landfill area within the peripheral impervious wall. As the waste front progresses, the internal ditches are converted to drains which collect leachate water only. A collector pipe carries leachate water to an on-site treatment center comprised of three ponds, one of which is aerated.