Geoforensics and Illegal Waste Avoidance of Landfill Tax - 250 - - PDF document

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Geoforensics and Illegal Waste

• Avoidance of Landfill Tax - £250

million cost to NI

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/northern-ireland-news/clearing- illegal-dumps-could-cost-more-than-250m-1-5756941

• Each year - €36 million cost to NI

(20%) and Irish (80%)

economyhttp://www.impartialreporter.com news/)13853430.The__pound_600_000_costs_to_public_to_remo ve_illegal_waste_from_Border_farm/

• €10 million to Italian economy

(http://www.havocscope.com/tag/illegal-dumping/)

• €200 million globally, estimated

50,000 lives lost (mainly children:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/12/up-to-90-

• f-worlds-electronic-waste-is-illegally-dumped-says-un
• Cost to human health, environment,

loss of income (metal, plastic)

• World-wide problem – easier to bury

than recycle, easier to ship than recycle

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excise-notice-lft1-a-general-guide-to- landfill-tax/excise-notice-lft1-a-general-guide-to-landfill-tax#rates-of-tax

How can geology assist in the investigation into illegally-buried waste? First, by understanding ground conditions to assist the search – exclude areas, find the target. Second, assist in assessing how much is there and what it may be. Third, by excluding suspects from all possible locations and understanding what happened, when and how.

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Landuse Surface and Solid Geology Mineral Location Database Local Authority Landfill Database Access Roads Visibility Predictive Modelling – Risk Assessment

Find the Target: Integration of Imagery and GIS for Screening

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How can geology assist in the investigation into illegally-buried waste? First, by understanding ground conditions to assist the search – exclude areas, find the target. Second, assist in assessing how much is there and what it may be. Third, by excluding suspects from all possible locations and understanding what happened, when and how.

The Mala RAMAC ground penetrating radar 50MHz unshielded RTA50 antenna

transmitter receiver control unit & battery pack real-time display unit antenna battery housings

Case Studies: conjunctive use of geophysical methods

Ruffell, A. & Kulessa, B. 2009. Applications of Geophysical Techniques in Identifying Illegally- buried Toxic Waste. Environmental Forensics, 10, 196-207

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Object seen

• n 50MHz

Edge of object seen on 100MHz 50MHz 100MHz Nominally - 250m Nominally - 250m 50MHz Walked turns Nominally - 50m

A B C

river gate

100m

N

A B C

200m 100m mound Mound

area of 100Mhz grid

NE NE

• Fig. 3

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124 100Mhz 128 50Mhz Anomalies in trench 129 50Mhz 125 100Mhz trench trench trench

• A. ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY

Newtownards Line 1 Depth (m) Distance along line (m) Depth (m) Distance along line (m)

• B. SCALED CHARGEABILITY

Cross-over with Line 2

Top of bedrock Pockets of waste

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• A. ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY

Newtownards Line 3 Depth (m) Distance along line (m) Depth (m) Distance along line (m)

• B. SCALED CHARGEABILITY

Top of bedrock Pockets of waste

Talk Structure

Macro-scale (find the target)– general on remote sensing (satellite imagery, air photographs, drones) Medium-scale (define the target)– geophysics: illegally buried waste case study Micro-scale (assist the legal process) – geological evidence: windfarm case study

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Satellite (historical, e.g IRS, LANDSAT) New - QUICKBIRD, IKONOS, LANDSAT (thematic) leads to combined imagery (mosaic)

Combined using GIS

Aerial (historic & new)

Satellite & aerial mosaics. Near infra-red, UV, spectral mosaics Models of landscape change (biogeography, geomorphology) = TARGETS GEOPHYSICS Target location - area mapped (resistivity & magnetics) GEOPHYSICS Target location - depth/volume determined, seismics, EM), flow paths Side-scan sonar Sector scanning sonar GPR DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL Shape & size of area Flow paths HYDROLOGICAL MODEL WATER & SOIL SAMPLING (chemistry, isotopes) TARGET LOCATED - RETRIEVAL

WALK-ON SURVEY

SMALL-SCALE (METRES) LARGE-SCALE (KM) TARGET AREAS ACKNOWLEDGED

Dr Laurance Donnelly

BSc (Hons), PhD, CGeol, CSci, EurGeol, FGS, FGSA

Chair, IUGS-IFG Forensic Geologist & Police Search Adviser Geological Society of London Forensic Geoscience Group (FGG) International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) Initiative on Forensic Geology (IFG)

Summary Geological Society of London (GSL) Forensic Geoscience Group (FGG) International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) Initiative on Forensic Geology (IFG)

Dr Alastair Ruffell

BSc (Hons), PhD, FGS

Chair of the FGG IUGS-IFG Committee Training Officier Queens University Belfast Dr Jennifer McKinley

BSc (Hons), PhD, CGeol, FGS

Council member of the GSL IUGS-IFG Committee Communication officer Queens University Belfast

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IUGS-IFG Management & Structure

CRIME SCENE DO NOT ENTER CRIME SCENE DO NOT ENTER CRIME SCENE DO NOT ENTER CRIME SCENE DO NOT ENTER CRIME SCENE DO NOT ENTER CRIME SCENE DO NOT ENTER CRIME SCENE DO NOT ENTER

www.forensicgeologyinternational.org

IUGS – Initiative on Forensic Geology: training

Bogota, Colombia 2008 Brisbane, Australia, 2012 Brazil & Moscow 2013 Sicily, 2015 (Abu Dhabi, November 2015 and more..)

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