UA SRP Researchers Initiate the Iron King Mine Superfund Site Phytostabilization Trial

An intrepid team of ten UA SRP researchers, led by field expert Scott White, completed the initiation of a phytostabilization field trial at the Iron King Mine Humboldt Smelter Superfund site on May 18, 2010.  The field trial is focused on the Iron King Mine tailings area and will evaluate whether native plants can be established in the tailings with compost amendments that have produced successful results in greenhouse studies.  This study is part of the UA SRP Project 9 led by Raina Maier and Jon Chorover.  Project 8, led by Eric Betterton, is deploying several types of dust monitors to evaluate the impact of plant establishment on dust emissions from the site which contains highly elevated levels of metals including arsenic and lead.  Project 5, led by Walt Klimecki, in conjunction with our Research Translation Core will be working with the community to evaluate possible health impacts of dust emissions from the site.  The EPA Region 9 project manager (Leah Butler) and site owner (Steven Schuchardt) have been enthusiastic supporters of this study.

For a slide show that illustrates the field trial set up click on the following link: Iron King Phytostabilization Trial.