The next question that comes to mind is “how long does it take to clean up a contamination?” Well, that depends. It depends on the type and severity of contamination. It depends on soil conditions, temperatures, oxygen levels and availability of micro-organisms reaching the affected area. Low temperatures slow down the bioremediation process because heat as energy is necessary for degradation, especially for chemical compounds with complex, higher molecular weights.

TCE is a complex chemical compound, and 60°F is usually the minimum temperature required for micro-organisms or their enzymes to function properly and return the environment to its original state. Situated in the far western region of New York, the town of Le Roy enjoys only three months of warm weather with an average annual temperature around 55°F. This is cold territory! Placed in this context, an untreated TCE spill leaching its way towards the baseball field’s foundation seems plausible, or worse if fill from the train derailment was used for the field.

                
                                Red swings and ____?


In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with state and local authorities track* all known contaminated sites. Please remember to check environmental data, trends and contaminated neighborhoods when evaluating project sites and remember to suspect the unsuspected when implementing soil, water and air tests. The right metrics lead to developing the right in situ bioremediation program.

Plants also play a vital role, and the fascinating technology of "phytoremediation" is proving that plants can be cultivated to efficiently and economically extract minerals and toxic chemicals and be subsequently harvested for resell purposes. Certain species (for example, sunflowers, bracken ferns, alpine pennycress – all beautiful, by the way) naturally absorb hazardous substances, such as arsenic, lead and uranium, from the soil. It behooves us, then, to remember that plants should be acknowledged and considered when designing landscapes before excavation takes place.

The situation is not pretty either in the "bel paese”:  Italy has an estimated 12,600 contaminated sites on record as being noncompliant with EU environmental pollution standards. An EU delegation  recently visited significantly polluted areas, pointing out noncompliant gaps and the need for transparency measures.

Italy, they stated, must take responsibility for all forms of contamination (air, water, land), must stop passing the buck and start enforcing levies on polluters rather than expect financial assistance from the EU for the clean up effort. I suspect the current economic reality with imminent austerity measures will force Italians to finally examine their habits and their relationship with the natural environment (there is not one) and to choose a path of environmental stewardship. Already a visible consequence is its negative impact on the tourism industry in the south.

The Blacksmith Institute, an international non-profit addressing and cleaning up the world’s worst polluted areas, issues an annual report on the top 10 worst polluted places and their work to date. They believe there are many underreported “orphaned” contaminated sites affecting 100 million lives. Rather than blame malnutrition for the many birth defects and high infant mortality rate, they correctly point instead to widespread industrial toxic waste and pollution as the root causes in underdeveloped countries and poorly supervised industrial areas.

The intent is not to frighten but to motivate everyone to take due diligence and do one's part in reducing soil pollution and remedying contamination through proper biological means. We can also begin with a concerted utilization of clean, renewable energy that will contribute greatly in eliminating our reliance on (and irresponsible use of) fossil fuels in industrial, commercial and residential settings. A healthy soil is the foundation for healthy living. Without a good foundation, life and the entire eco-system become unbalanced. This short video on the ideal soil conditions necessary for producing a good wine, in my opinion, sums up the issue and points nicely to our gardening focus next month.

                       
                      Until next time!

                       Violeta Archer

* The EPA only tracks large, severely contaminated sites of which about 760 exist. Smaller, less severe sites are tracked at the state and local levels.      

In the small New York state town of Le Roy (pop. 7,600) there have been some alarming reports of strange neurological behavior affecting a dozen teenage students. Although it may seem like an isolated incident, it is getting national attention for the sheer number of inexplicable cases and simultaneous appearance of Tourette-like symptoms (physical and verbal tics).

Most of the afflicted students are members of a baseball team. They all practiced and played together as a team on the same field(s). Nothing out of the ordinary has taken place since they have developed the tic symptoms. They each return home at the end of the day, their families are normal, and their routines remain the same. The one thing they do share in common, however, is the playing field.  

The doctors examining the cases are flabbergasted and believe the students are experiencing a rare neurological disorder called “conversion disorder” induced by stress. By definition it is a condition that cannot be explained by medical evaluation. Blood tests performed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have turned up inconclusive.

Yet, when environmental activist Erin Brokovich did some research (yes, from the 2000 movie and she was called in to investigate), she discovered that a train had derailed with 35,000 gallons of trichloroethylene (TCE - a toxic chlorinated hydrocarbon commonly used for industrial solvents) and with a ton of cyanide crystals! These strong chemicals spilled onto the ground, and although it was possible to remove the cyanide crystals, it was not so with the trichloroethylene. The latter seeped in, and  since it is clear and nonflammable, no one thought much of it.

Could it be that as the students practiced, they exposed themselves – inhaling fine dust particles as they slide into bases, having topical contact on the limbs and perhaps getting some dirt in the eyes and/or mouth? It is all par for the course and part of the game. If this were a giant lab experiment, it is evident that this is their common denominator. Other students are not exhibiting such anomalies, and the benign appearance of the baseball field should not be taken for granted.

Well out of sight is not necessarily out of mind. The train derailment happened in the 1970s and just three miles away from the high school’s baseball field. What was assumed to have been cleansed four decades later seems to have reappeared as a parent’s, student’s and school’s nightmare. If one does not assume or dare connect the dots, then how can we expect to have accurate test results? How can we chase the right metrics? And on whose behalf were the chemicals being transported? How sustainable is this? The answers will not arrive if the questions are not posed!

TCE, by the way, was at one point used as an inhaled obstetrical anesthetic and subsequently banned by 1980 for proven neurological and cardiac dysfunctions. (New toxicity values were just released by the EPA last autumn.) No one at the time thought to test the derailment site if it was being administered to pregnant mothers. In the interim four decades anything could have happened – weather or construction-wise (the high school was built in 2003) – to contaminate the soil there. While it is true that the earth naturally takes care of problems, due diligence at both sites and all points in between would have prompted officials to implement a bioremediation program immediately.