December 17, 2024
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Phytotech Insights, a newsletter dedicated to the latest advancements in phytotechnologies—where innovative research meets environmental stewardship. In this series, we will spotlight groundbreaking studies, novel applications, and emerging trends in harnessing the power of plants for environmental remediation and sustainability.
This month's newsletter features exciting updates from Dr. John Freeman's team at Intrinsyx Environmental’s Green Innovation, showcasing their contributions to the field and their innovative approaches to solving environmental challenges.
Intrinsyx Environmental is leading the charge in a new era of environmental remediation, harnessing the power of nature to tackle some of the most persistent pollutants found in groundwater and soil. Under the guidance of Chief Science Officer, Dr. John L. Freeman, Intrinsyx Environmental has developed a groundbreaking commercial phytoremediation technique using trees and their endophyte bacteria to efficiently and sustainably clean up contaminants. This method called Endophyte-Assisted-Phytoremediation or EAP, improves tree based tolerance to organic pollutants and protects the trees from phytotoxicity. These endophyte bacteria allow the trees to survive and grow due to an increase in the internal rate of bacterial biodegradation. This improves the safety and resilience of the tree based phytoremediation systems and has allowed Intrinsyx’s EAP solution to become a reliable primary remedial method deployed at ~40 phytoremediation sites in the USA and internationally.
Dr. Freeman’s approach pairs poplar, willow, other trees, plants and grasses with specialized endophyte bacteria that live symbiotically within the tree. The bacterial strains not only help trees break down hazardous compounds like trichloroethylene (TCE), a common industrial pollutant, or oil and gas compounds, but the endophytes also enhance tree health, allowing them to grow faster and bigger, surviving in highly contaminated areas where other un-inoculated trees plants and grass often struggle or die. This work in phytoremediation—using plants and their internal endophytes to remove or break down pollutants—has dramatically cut cleanup costs, reduced time to clean up, and boosted the effectiveness of phytoremediation. Where conventional water “pump-and-treat”, soil “dig and haul”, incineration thermal and chemical oxidation methods require costly energy and equipment, plus intensive labor and high exposure risks, Freeman’s natural EAP solution is a fraction of the cost, works continuously with minimal upkeep once established, fixes carbon into trees, requires no energy to run, and reduces exposure risks.
The technique was first field-tested in California on superfund sites working with NASA, USGS and EPA, before being scaled up nationwide. Planted in carefully selected plots with contaminated groundwater, the poplar trees thrived, growing larger and healthier compared to untreated trees. Over time, this bio-engineered solution proved not only effective but also resilient, reducing TCE contamination from toxic levels to safe, environmentally acceptable concentrations.
Since these initial successes in TCE and oil-gas PAH’s, Intrinsyx Environmental has deployed endophyte-enhanced tree stands—primarily hybrid poplar, native willow and grasses—at locations across the United States. This natural solution has gained attention for both its sustainability and cost efficiency, achieving significant reductions in contamination levels. Now, Intrinsyx Environmental is extending these applications further, adding endophyte tree bacteria that address other widespread pollutants, including 1-4 Dioxane, PCBs, carbon tetrachloride, chlorobenzene and through co-inoculation can phytoremediate common mixed wastes such as chlorinated-hydrocarbon and landfill leachate sites.
Dr. Freeman’s visionary work and leadership at Intrinsyx Environmental demonstrates a successful fusion of biological innovation with practical applications, creating lasting environmental solutions. As they continue expanding, Intrinsyx Environmental is again redefining what’s possible for phytoremediation such as in their “Pump and Tree” based systems which incorporate EAP together with deep aquifer solar panel powered well pumps. These engineered systems have access to water contamination at much deeper depths >200 ft below ground, and the pollution is then bio-phyto-degraded inside the rhizosphere and internal to trees planted in containerized or lined trench based systems. These novel systems have good adaptability to a wide variety of sites due to the engineering of water delivery, plus soil/ water sensors and irrigation controllers. This system allows for remote operation of an EAP system even in extremely difficult environments. Dr. Freeman at Intrinsyx Environmental is a pioneer in this EAP field and is driving sustainable land management and pollution clean up, charting a better, more resilient path toward a cleaner, greener future.