TY - JOUR
T1 - Phytostabilization of mine tailings using compost-assisted direct planting
T2 - Translating greenhouse results to the field
AU - Gil-Loaiza, Juliana
AU - White, Scott A.
AU - Root, Robert A.
AU - Solís-Dominguez, Fernando A.
AU - Hammond, Corin M.
AU - Chorover, Jon
AU - Maier, Raina M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by NIEHS Superfund Research Program Grant 2 P42 ES04940 . We thank Steven Schuchardt, president of North American Industries, for generously providing access to the IKMHSS site and on-going help with irrigation and the weather station. Portions of this research were carried out at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, a National User Facility operated by Stanford University on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. We thank Mary K. Amistadi at ALEC for help with elemental analysis. We especially thank our field team for their help in preparing the field site and for yearly sampling trips including: Alaina Adel, Travis Borillo, Asma El Ouni, Ariel Friel, Xiaodong Gao, Catherine Gullo, Zhilin Guo, Sarah Hayes, David Hogan, Linnea Honeker, Shannon Heuberger, Shuqiong Kong, Billy Linker, Karis Nelson, Shawn A. Pedron, Michael Pohlmann, Yiamar Rivera Matos, Richard Rushforth, William J. Scott, Harrison Smith, Fernando Solis, Lane D. Undhjem, Alexis Valentin, Kayla M. Virgone, Simon Wang.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Standard practice in reclamation of mine tailings is the emplacement of a 15 to 90 cm soil/gravel/rock cap which is then hydro-seeded. In this study we investigate compost-assisted direct planting phytostabilization technology as an alternative to standard cap and plant practices. In phytostabilization the goal is to establish a vegetative cap using native plants that stabilize metals in the root zone with little to no shoot accumulation. The study site is a barren 62-hectare tailings pile characterized by extremely acidic pH as well as lead, arsenic, and zinc each exceeding 2000 mg kg− 1. The study objective is to evaluate whether successful greenhouse phytostabilization results are scalable to the field. In May 2010, a 0.27 ha study area was established on the Iron King Mine and Humboldt Smelter Superfund (IKMHSS) site with six irrigated treatments; tailings amended with 10, 15, or 20% (w/w) compost seeded with a mix of native plants (buffalo grass, arizona fescue, quailbush, mountain mahogany, mesquite, and catclaw acacia) and controls including composted (15 and 20%) unseeded treatments and an uncomposted unseeded treatment. Canopy cover ranging from 21 to 61% developed after 41 months in the compost-amended planted treatments, a canopy cover similar to that found in the surrounding region. No plants grew on unamended tailings. Neutrophilic heterotrophic bacterial counts were 1.5 to 4 orders of magnitude higher after 41 months in planted versus unamended control plots. Shoot tissue accumulation of various metal(loids) was at or below Domestic Animal Toxicity Limits, with some plant specific exceptions in treatments receiving less compost. Parameters including % canopy cover, neutrophilic heterotrophic bacteria counts, and shoot uptake of metal(loids) are promising criteria to use in evaluating reclamation success. In summary, compost amendment and seeding, guided by preliminary greenhouse studies, allowed plant establishment and sustained growth over 4 years demonstrating feasibility for this phytostabilization technology.
AB - Standard practice in reclamation of mine tailings is the emplacement of a 15 to 90 cm soil/gravel/rock cap which is then hydro-seeded. In this study we investigate compost-assisted direct planting phytostabilization technology as an alternative to standard cap and plant practices. In phytostabilization the goal is to establish a vegetative cap using native plants that stabilize metals in the root zone with little to no shoot accumulation. The study site is a barren 62-hectare tailings pile characterized by extremely acidic pH as well as lead, arsenic, and zinc each exceeding 2000 mg kg− 1. The study objective is to evaluate whether successful greenhouse phytostabilization results are scalable to the field. In May 2010, a 0.27 ha study area was established on the Iron King Mine and Humboldt Smelter Superfund (IKMHSS) site with six irrigated treatments; tailings amended with 10, 15, or 20% (w/w) compost seeded with a mix of native plants (buffalo grass, arizona fescue, quailbush, mountain mahogany, mesquite, and catclaw acacia) and controls including composted (15 and 20%) unseeded treatments and an uncomposted unseeded treatment. Canopy cover ranging from 21 to 61% developed after 41 months in the compost-amended planted treatments, a canopy cover similar to that found in the surrounding region. No plants grew on unamended tailings. Neutrophilic heterotrophic bacterial counts were 1.5 to 4 orders of magnitude higher after 41 months in planted versus unamended control plots. Shoot tissue accumulation of various metal(loids) was at or below Domestic Animal Toxicity Limits, with some plant specific exceptions in treatments receiving less compost. Parameters including % canopy cover, neutrophilic heterotrophic bacteria counts, and shoot uptake of metal(loids) are promising criteria to use in evaluating reclamation success. In summary, compost amendment and seeding, guided by preliminary greenhouse studies, allowed plant establishment and sustained growth over 4 years demonstrating feasibility for this phytostabilization technology.
KW - Direct planting
KW - Fertility islands
KW - Mine tailings
KW - Phytoremediation
KW - Phytostabilization
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U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.04.168
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.04.168
M3 - Article
C2 - 27183459
AN - SCOPUS:84979518706
VL - 565
SP - 451
EP - 461
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
SN - 0048-9697
ER -