Mobility of Heavy Metals from Illegal Garbage Burn Piles in West Haven, Vermont

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the threat of three toxic heavy metals to the environment based on their estimated bioavailability and mobility. Since 2013 Helen Mango, Department of Natural Sciences at Castleton State College, has been collecting data from illegal garbage burn piles in the West Haven, Vermont area. Six samples were chosen from Mango's study to determine concentrations of lead, zinc, and barium. Mango's bulk chemical analysis was used to obtain an estimation of the concentrations of these metals in the six surface soil samples chosen for this study. Mango's study showed that ash and soil at the burn pile sites contain elevated concentrations of several metals, indicating that metals in the burned garbage are contaminating surface and some subsurface soils.