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EFFECTS OF VARIABLE SITE CONDITIONS ON PHYTOREMEDIATION OF MIXED CONTAMINANTS: FIELD-SCALE INVESTIGATION AT BIG MARSH SITE
Reddy, K.R. and G. Amaya-Santos.
Journal of Environmental Engineering 143(9):(2017)

Big Marsh is a large wetland site contaminated with PAHs and heavy metals following decades of illegal waste dumping. Three different experimental areas, representative of three site ecotypes, were selected for a field-scale phytoremediation project. Nine native and restoration species were planted at each area and assessed over three growing seasons for their potential to survive and remediate the soil. Each area was tilled prior to planting, and compost was added to one of the areas. At the end of the third season, analysis of PAH and heavy metal concentrations in roots and shoots of the surviving species and in the soil samples collected in each growing season showed a decrease in PAH concentrations in the compost-amended area. In the unamended areas, PAHs uptake occurred only in the roots of the surviving species. Despite root uptake of metals by all the surviving species, no substantial changes were found in soil metal concentrations in the planted experimental areas.



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