A comprehensive method to inventory uncontrolled waste disposal sites integrates all available historic, engineering, geologic, land use, water supply, and public agency or private company records in order to develop a complete and accurate site profile. Detailed information on site contents may not be available but areas of potential impact can be evaluated. Where people or drinking water supplies are affected, further investigation is indicated. Historic aerial photographs provide the accuracy and documentation required to compile a precise record of site boundaries, points of access, and adjacent land use. Engineering borings for construction projects in the vicinity of suspected sites are integrated with geologic information to construct reasonable hydrogeologic models to evaluate potential leachate impact on water wells or nearby inhabitants. Sites are systematically ranked using matrices with appropriate variables, such as geology, land use, or distance to water wells. This kind of an evaluation is a necessary step in the prioritization of sites where little is known about contents and where numbers of sites preclude a comprehensive drilling and testing program.

"Prepared under contract number 68-03-3049, subcontract number 14043, with the Lockheed Engineering and Management Services Co., Inc." Includes bibliographical references. "October 1983." "EPA-600/4-83-050."