CUTTINGTON UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL &

PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
TUBMAN BOULEVARD, CONGO TOWN
SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES (ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE)
MONROVIA, LIBERIA

COURSE TITLE : ENSC 612-1 (ENVIRONMENTAL GEOSCIENCE &

RESTORATION ECOLOGY)

PAPER FOCUS : ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION (RESTORATION PLAN OF

WHEIN TOWN DUMP SITE)

DATE : MARCH 14, 2018

SUBMITTED TO : T. CATFISH BROWNELL

EMAIL : sampjallah49@gmail.com

PREPARED BY : SAM P. JALLAH

STUDENT ID : GP 15968
 1. BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH STUDIES
The course ENSC 612 is an Environmental course on Ecological Restoration, of areas impacted
by project activities or RAMSAR SITES. Such project could be of varying sectors, as follows:
Mining, Agriculture, Waste Landfill, Industrial, Infrastructure, etc. Predicated upon the nature of
the course, we (students) were assigned to research on project related activities in Liberia whose
scope of activities requires a RESTORATION PLAN of DAMAGED, DEGRADED or
DESTROYED site.

Therefore, on January 1, 2018, a two man research team constituting of Mr. Sam P. Jallah,
student of the above course and an expert in Geographical Information System (GIS) embark on
the journey at the Whein Town Landfill site (The site that was selected by the class) in
Bensenville/Tweah Farm, Montserrado County.

Landfill is currently the most widely used method of waste disposal in Liberia and is likely to
continue to be the main disposal option for the short to medium term based on the lack of
technology and political good-will from stakeholders. In line with best practice and economies
of scale, many of the smaller landfill sites have been closed or are in the process of closing and
those which do not, or cannot, be upgraded to meet high environmental standards will have to
close and be restored (for instance, the Faimah Dump site).

Successful restoration is one of the ways of convincing the public that landfills are an acceptable
means of waste disposal. Selection of an appropriate site, good operational practice and site
design are other important elements. Restoration is an essential step in the process of waste
disposal, and must be considered at all stages of the life of the site if land-filling is to be
managed in a way that minimizes environmental impacts.

In the eyes of the public, successful site restoration is often considered one of the more important
elements because the results endure and are visible for much longer than the period for which the
site is operational. Also, many of the engineered structures which are essential in preventing
environmental pollution are below ground and are therefore not visible. A well restored site
returns the land to a beneficial and attractive after use and gives assurances that any future
landfill site will also be restored to a similarly high standard, thereby promoting public
confidence in the land-filling process.
2. HISTORY OF THE RESEARCH AREA
2.1 WHEIN TOWN LANDFILL SITE

The Whein Town Landfill site is an interim Landfill site, established in the North East and
outskirts of Monrovia. It was constructed as an interim site, to replace the unsanitary Faimah
waste disposal site, to serve for the period of five years, while a more Modern landfill site would
be located and established. The site is surrounded by residential settlements at a distance ranging
between 0.5 km and 1.5 km. Agricultural activities has been present in the surrounding area, but
seems to depreciate in recent.

2.2 LOCATION
The Whein site is located approximately 17 km to the north east of the Monrovia city centre,
near the Omega Tower.
The Whein Town facility where solid waste from the Greater Monrovia is deposited is located at
the outskirts of Monrovia City in Montserrado County. The elevation of the landfill site ranges
between 66m and 10m above sea level. The site is 16-4km away from every major water course;
and the area is approximately 10 ha in size.

2.3 DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SITE

At the south-eastern end of the site there is a ridge of weathered sandstone and laterite sloping
sharply toward the northwest, to a flat area that seems to be devoid of permanent drainage
channels. The ridge offers a source of cover and liner material, if excavated on its NE-facing side
as the consultant (EIA Report) suggests, while it would screen the landfill from a low-density
area of residences at least hundred meters away to the South East. There is sufficient land to have
a landfill that would serve Monrovia's needs for the five years period, if excavated downward
about two meters and filled upward for about 15 m. There are no perennial streams on the site,
though it appears to be bordered by a water course that would have to be protected by an
embankment.

The consensus is that the site is potentially usable, provided risk to groundwater can be
determined and then mitigated. The site appears to be underlain by sandstone, and the soil on the
flat portion of it is sandy. Clay was visible on the ridge.
 3. FIELD INVESTIGATION AND FINDINGS
GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATIONS
Extensive geotechnical laboratory testing was carried out on soil samples from the different soil
horizons in each of the boreholes and test-pits. Laboratory tests included Grading, Atterberg
Limits, moisture content and permeability to determine soil properties. The results of these
laboratory tests were included in the Geotechnical Report of the Environmental and Social
Impact Assessment (ESIA) report developed by EARTHTIME.

3.1 CURRENT METHOD OF WASTE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL IN MONROVIA

AND AT THE WHEIN TOWN LANDFILL SITE
The need for an economic analysis of the transportation options of waste is thus considered
obvious due to the distances involved with this site as a probable final option.

The methodology being employed to easily collect and disposed the solid waste of Monrovia,
was enhance by constructing series of Transfer Stations at different locations in the city. These
Transfer Stations were constructed to facilitate the temporary disposal of solid wastes, which
were later transported to the main Solid waste disposal site at Whein Town, at a convenient time.

The objective of establishing these transfer stations as temporary disposal site, were due to the
problem posed, in the long distance travelled of disposing these solid waste on a daily basis at
the Whein Town landfill site.

3.2 PAST TECHNIQUE OF WASTE COLLECTION

The method of waste collection and disposal in the city of Monrovia is mainly supervised and
controlled by the Monrovia City Cooperation (MCC). And there are also other private
contracting firm been involve in waste collection and disposal.

The method of waste collection and disposal in time past was such that; while the MCC clean
and collected waste from the streets, and from smaller waste cells installed in every corner of the
city, the MCC then disposes these wastes at the nearby transfer stations of that street or
community. A private firm Zoom Lion, mainly used bigger vehicles, like trucks and bulldozers
to collect these waste from each transfer stations, and disposes these wastes at the main Waste
Disposal site at Whein Town.

The waste at the Whein Town Landfill site was daily level, cover with laterite material, and well
compacted by the Zoom Lion.
3.3 CURRENT DAY’S STATUS OF THE SITE
The Whein Town Landfill Site has outlived its Caring capacity, meaning the five (5) years plan
design period for the site has elapsed. Currently, the site is overburden by waste stream, as
wastes are been overlay and continuously compacted. Evidently, during the field research a new
access route (see form the map) was been constructed over previously placed and compacted
waste to facilitate additional overlay of new waste.

As stated, several firms term as Waste Service Providers are involved in waste collection and
disposal. Both the waste Transfer Stations and the Whein Town Landfille site are regulated by
the Monrovia City Cooperation. The site is currently managed by both the MCC and a project
consultant firms whose dose the compaction and overlay of waste on the site.

3.4 WASTE TYPE

The waste type for Monrovia (Liberia) is placed in two generic groups, either General or
Hazardous Waste, according to the risk it possess.

3.4.1 GENERAL WASTE

General Waste is municipal solid waste, comprising domestic, commercial, market and dries
industrial waste, as well as rubble and garden waste. It may also contain small quantities of
hazardous substances dispersed within it, for example, batteries, insecticides, herbicides and
medical waste discarded on domestic and commercial premises.

3.4.2 HAZARDOUS WASTE

Hazardous Waste is waste that has the potential, even in low concentrations, to have a
significant adverse effect on public health and/or the environment. This is on account of its
inherent chemical and physical characteristics, such as toxic, ignitable, corrosive, and
carcinogenic or other properties.

Observation of the status quo during the emergency cleanup and current ongoing collection and 17
disposal process confirmed that the waste under consideration falls within the General waste
category. The waste undoubtedly contains small quantities of hazardous substances, such as
batteries, solvents, insecticides and medical waste discarded on domestic and commercial
premises, some of which were observed on the existing landfills. However, these are not
considered significant, as they constitute a very small percentage of the waste stream.

It is worth mentioning that the Whein Town Landfill during its design was not installed with a
waste cell for handling the disposal of hazardous waste neither to say waste water. According to
sources during an interview of locals and manager (Mr. Lazarus) of the site, sometime in 2016 it
was said that there was constant outbreak of fire within the site, which was due in part to burial
of chlorine.
3.5 LEACHATE GENERATION (QUALITY AND QUANTITY)
Due to the overburden of the current Whein Town Landfill site and poor operations, the site is
saturated; hence the lechate collection system is not effective to trap the exact quantity. In fact,
pools of water/leachate were observed (see from the map and photos) on the surface of the
deposited waste.

Large volumes of leachate were observed either stagnant, or flowing into lower surrounding ends
of the site. However, there has been no technology yet to determine the quantity of the leachate
flowing from the Whein Town site, but since most of the waste disposed are mainly municipal
solid waste, there doesn’t exist a high toxic leachate generation, as hazardous waste are assume
to be minimum.

A bottom liner layer or impermeable membrane layer (see from the map and photos) to trap
the leachate content from the waste, was partially visible at the site during the field research.

What we did not ascertain was to weather the entire site was line with geo-membrane to prevent
ground water contamination. Additionally, there were visible extrusion and runoff of
leachate from segment of the waste site not in used and cover with vegetation, this was
evident in several areas.

Unlike the post construction phase of the Whein Town Landfill site, the site also has an array of
pond systems through which leachate are pipe in a drainage conduit for treatment, by the
process of natural biodegradation of organic contaminants by means of oxidation and
aeration.
4.0 GPS COORDINATES AND MAPS OF POINTS ASSESSED DURING
JANUARY 1ST RESEARCH.
 5. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RESTORATION
Based on the field research in line with studies, the following are recommended:

1. That the Civil and Geotechnical work on the existing sites (Whein Town) be revisited to
save lives and the environment due to the presence of Leachate that was seen almost
everywhere on site during my filed research. Because according to geotechnical engineering
of a landfill site, leachate may escape through weaknesses in the capping layer, or through
the soil covering particularly around the edges of the landfill, or through defects in the lining
of containment systems.
2. That due to the numbers of water resources (wells) and distance away of the community
from the main dump site observed during my field research, a main pollution control
systems that require integration and protection should be built that will include capping
system, landfill gas management system, leachate management system and fixed monitoring
points for settlement, groundwater quality, surface water quality, leachate and gas sampling.

3. The government of Liberia needs to immediately designate a new Landfill site to deal with
the waste burden of Monrovia, as it seems waste management control is a serious challenge
in the city.

4. A post baseline studies needs to be conducted prior to closure of the site, because previous
studies projected within the ESIA report of the site in the Closure Plan, has taking different
dimensions, given the prolonged utilization of the site beyond its caring capacity initially
envisaged.

5. Every issues involving groundwater quality, air quality needs to be reassessed before
restoring the site to a more habitable condition safe for those communities in close
proximity, to avoid adverse impacts that may arise. This is due to the admittance of
community dwellers interviewed that they experienced among many issues, odor issue.

6. That the resources allocated to developed the new landfill site takes into account the
following:

 pre-treatment, transfer, or treatment and discharge system for leachate and contaminated
surface runoff, as appropriate for site conditions
 gas vent/flaring systems
 leachate and gas monitoring wells
 composting system for only ideally suitable organic wastes by simple open air windrow
pile methods

7. To facilitate effect restoration or reclamation of the area, the following needs to be done:
 The manner of land reclamation by solid waste needs to be revisited by the relevant
stockholders of government, EPA, Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Lands and Mines
and Liberia Water Sewer Cooperation and the MCC.

6. CONCLUSION
Successful landfill restoration requires good silvicultural, agricultural, ecological and
engineering practice. These principles apply to all types of restoration but persons specifically
involved in landfill restoration must understand and be aware of the potential problems which
can be encountered on landfills. Implementing restoration works on site requires the specialist
skills of soil scientists, landscape architects, civil and/or geotechnical engineers, hydrogeologists,
geochemists, etc and this is one of the limitations of this work as the reported (Sam P. Jallah) is
just a student to the course.
7.0 REFERENCES
1. LANDFILL DEVELOPMENT FOR GREATER MONROVIA
FEASIBILITY STUDY AND PRELIMINARY DESIGN REPORT
BY MCC AND PORY ENVIRONMENT GMBHPÖYRYENVIRONMENT GmbH
Email: poyry.liberia@gmail.com

2. Assessment of Solid Waste Management in Liberia - Disasters and 

http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/Liberia_waste.pdf

3. Earthtime Environmental Social Impact Assessment Studies Whein Town Landfill site.

4. 1 Solid Waste Management Plan – Monrovia, UNICEF. 2004

2 Managing the Monster – Urban Waste and Governance in Africa, IDRC, 1999
3 Gauteng Department of Agriculture Conservation Environment and Land Affairs
(GDACEL) guideline figures – South Africa

5. Lazarous Mathrews, Whein Town Dump Site Manager, Mobile: 0775196888

ANNEX

DESCRIPTION PHOTOS
Entry towards the Site

Close Segment of the Site not in

used

Communities in close proximity

towards the site
Research team touring the site :
Sam P. Jallah (The Student), the
GIS Expert and two MCC police
officer on site

Finished segment of the site

enrich by nutrients

Segment of the Site being reused

Visible Lechate waste oozing out
of the Landfill Site

Runoff of lechate within

environment of the site

Stagnant untreated lechate within

southern segment of the site
Lechate treatment manhole
system, functional by gravity
means

Lechate Treatment System by

arrays of Ponds through aeration

Field investigation and GPS

coordinates sampling of main
segment impacted by waste
burden. Sam P. Jallah (the
student facing directly) and the
GIS expert.