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Green Remediation Focus

Crozet Orchard

Crozet, Virginia

Superfund Removal

Image Gallery

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Arsenic Accumulators
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Irrigation Schematics
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Gravity Irrigation
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Solar Irrigation


Cleanup Objectives: Remove metals and pesticides such as lead-arsenates from soil at a former apple orchard.

Green Remediation Strategy: Employ phytoremediation supported by gravity-fed and renewable

Energy-powered Irrigation Techniques:

  • Installed 20,000 Chinese brake ferns for hyperaccumulation of arsenic existing primarily in surface soil (within nine inches)
  • Captures and stores hill-top spring water in a 4,000-gallon tank from which water is transferred by gravity to 17 of 24 fern plots when needed
  • Uses solar-powered low-flow pumps to transfer water from a hill-bottom spring to a second storage tank, from which water is delivered to other (sloped) plots by way of gravity-fed drip methods

Results:

  • Reduced arsenic concentrations in nineteen plots to below the 58 mg/kg action level after two growing seasons. Sampling data indicate a minimal reduction in arsenic concentration between 73 and 106 mg/kg at the remaining five plots.
  • Stores uncontaminated spring water for onsite use during dry spells
  • Avoids costs and greenhouse gas emissions associated with consumption of grid electricity during the treatment process
  • Provides unobtrusive methods to remediate residential properties

Property End Use: Residential and open space

Point of Contact: Myles Bartos, U.S. EPA Region 3

Update: July 2024

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