Phytotechnology Projects

I have just gained access to this site. In 1968, chlordane was applied to a known area. Residual levels are around 5ppm but because of the urban location, 1ppm total DDX (DDT,DDE,DDD) and a number of PAHs are also present. I grew several cutlivars of zucchini and squash, as well as hybridized and backcrossed individuals of each. Zucchini has been shown to accumulate certain weathered persistent organic pollutants whereas squash does not. No results are yet available for this first year of the trial.

A mixed hybrid poplar, willow, and loblolly pine system of 3,100 trees was planted at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Facility in Elizabeth City, NC, USA. This is a demonstration site for the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources as part of the US EPA 319 Program. The main objective is to prevent the groundwater migration of fuels from former storage areas to the Pasquotank River. Soil gas analyses show an 85% reduction of total petroleum hydrocarbons from February 2007 to July 2010; groundwater concentrations of BTEX are below regulatory levels at key groundwater wells.

BES C, MENCH M, 2008 Remediation of copper-contaminated topsoils from a wood treatment facility using in situ stabilisation. Environ Pollut 156:1128-1138 MENCH M, BES C 2009 Assessment of the ecotoxicity of topsoils from a wood treatment site. Pedosphere 19:143-155 BES C et al 2010 Spatial variation of plant communities and shoot Cu concentrations of plant species at a timber treatment site. Plant Soil 330:267-280 MENCH M et al 2010 Successes and limitations of phytotechnologies at field scale: Outcomes, assessment and outlook from COST Action 859. J Soils Sediments 10:1039-1070 KOLBAS A et al 2011 Copper phytoextraction in tandem with oilseed production using commercial cultivars and mutant lines of sunflower. Int J Phytorem