Using Geographic Information System to Select Suitable Landfill Sites For Megacities (Case Study of Lagos, Nigeria)

Abstract

Proper landfill site selection is the fundamental step in sound waste disposal and the protection of the environment, publichealth and quality of life. Proper landfill site selection determines many of the subsequent steps in the landfill process,which, if properly implemented, should ensure against nuisances and adverse long-term effects. For example, a well-selectedlandfill site will generally facilitate an uncomplicated design and provide ample cover material, which would facilitate anenvironmentally and publicly acceptable operation at a reasonable cost. The criteria involved in landfill site selection includeenvironmental, economic and sociopolitical criteria, some of which may conflict. With increased environmental awareness,new legislation and certain other developments over time, the landfill site selection process has become much moresophisticated, as new procedures and tools have been developed (Ball, 2005). Increased environmental awareness anddeepening environmental concerns in recent years have forced attention on the need to move towards a more sustainablesociety. These changes in attitudes in many parts of the world have been supported by changes in laws and policies onenvironment and waste disposal. In this context, the pressures and requirements placed on decision makers dealing with landfill by government and society have increased, as they now have to make decisions taking into considerations publicsatisfaction, environmental safety and economic practicality. This situation has created a need for more consistent andobjective methods for making decisions; improved access to, and better management of environmental information. At theinternational level, criteria of differing degrees of detail exist as guidelines for the optimum siting of landfills (Baban andFlannagan, 1998). The role of Geographic Information Systems in solid waste management is very large as many aspects ofits planning and operations are highly dependent on spatial data. In general, Geographic Information Systems plays a keyrole in maintaining account data to facilitate collection operations; customer service; analyzing optimal locations for transferstations; planning routes for vehicles transporting waste from residential, commercial and industrial customers to transferstations and from transfer stations to landfills; locating new landfills and monitoring the landfill. Geographic informationsystem is a tool that not only reduces time and cost of the site selection, but also provide a digital data bank for futuremonitoring program of the site (Yagoub and Buyong, 2008). This research evaluates existing landfill sites in Lagos,establishes the need for new dumpsites and proposes candidate landfill sites, using Geographic information system as tooland World Bank standard of landfill sitting as criteria.Keywords - Social networks, threats, security, intrusion and attacks.