Phytotechnology Project Profiles
Phytoremediation at Boston Mill in Arizona
Last Updated: November 2007 |
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| Site Information | ||
| Site Name, Location: | Boston Mill, Fairbank, AZ, United States | |
| Site Type: | Metal Ore Mining and Smelting | |
| Is this a Federal Superfund Site? |
No | |
| Is this a Federal or Military Site? |
No | |
Project Information |
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| Project Name: | Phytoremediation at Boston Mill in Arizona | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Site History and Background: | Neutral Au/Ag mine tailings from a gold and silver ore processing operation from 1879 to 1887. Located next to the San Pedro River in the San Pedro River National Conservation Area (SPRNCA), approximately 3.2 km (2 miles) south of Fairbank, AZ, and 12.6 km (8 miles) southwest of Tombstone, AZ. pH ranges from 8.3 – 9.8, Heterotrophic counts averaged 2.1 ± 0.9 × 105 CFU g−1 dry soil, autotrophic counts not determined. An initial field was performed (2003-2004) to determine 1) whether the site could be revegetated with native transplants, 2) whether compost amendment was necessary for revegetation, 3) what the impact of revegetation was on the microbial community. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scale: | Pilot/Field Demonstration | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Project Status: | Ongoing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Project Start Date: | 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Project Completion Date: | 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Media Treated: |
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| Contaminants Treated: |
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| Phytotechnology Mechanism(s): | Phytostabilization |
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| Plants and other Vegetation Used: | Saltgrass Quailbush Saltbush Sacaton |
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| Planting Description: | The site was bulldozed onto a 1.5 acre impoundment and covered with 6 inches of top soil recovered locally. The site was then seeded, just prior to the summer monsoon, with the native species shown above. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Planting Area: | 1.5 acres | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Performance Data: | Shortly following seeding in June 2006, a large rain event washed seeds away on northern ½ of the site. Following the rain event, only four-wing saltbush and inland saltgrass were observed to have germinated, along with some volunteer species, on the southern half of the site. Sheet erosion and surface mining of the impoundment (mostly on the northern half) was noted, as well as crusting of the surface on the northern half of the site. By three months after planting (Oct. 2006), significantly more of the planted species had germinated. Four-wing saltbush, quailbush, and inland salt grass were all noted with inland salt grass the most prevalent of the seeded species. In May 2007, the total canopy cover from the seeded species for the site was 3% (± 7) on the northern half, and 16% (± 9) on the southern half. Inland salt grass was the predominant species of the overall canopy composition. A second seeding was performed in July 2007 on the northern half of the area at a higher seeding rate and will be monitored for the next few years. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of the Phytotechnology Project: | Not available | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Comments: | The site is being evaluated for germination and % canopy cover. | Point(s) of Contact |
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Raina Maier Arizona University United States Telephone: (520) 621-7231 E-mail: rmaier@Ag.arizona.edu |
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| Information Source(s): | Rosario, K.; S.L. Iverson; D.A. Henderson; S. Chartrand; C. McKeon; E.P. Glenn; and R.M. Maier. 2007. Bacterial community changes during plant establishment at the San Pedro River mine tailings site. Journal of Environmental Quality. (accepted) |
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