Plant colonization of brownfield soil and post-washing sludge: effect of organic amendment and environmental conditions

Abstract

This paper analyses the effects of substrate properties and environmental conditions on spontaneous vegetation of soil and sludges from a dismantled steel plant moderately polluted by heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Plant colonization was monitored in the presence or absence of acidic peat for 5 years both inside the degraded brownfield site and after transferral into a nearby Oak Park environment. Overall, 57 plant species grew healthily on the substrates, with peat enhancing plant growth in the unfavourable brownfield site. Most of the species were found in the park (91 %), showing plant colonization was mainly affected by the immediate environment rather than by substrate properties. Restricted metal uptake and tissue accumulation by selected plants were measured, with only Daucus carota showing a higher ability to translocate metals to shoots (shoot/root metal concentration quotient [1 with peat). Phytostabilization with native plants represents an economically more realistic and cost-effective option than excavation, soil washing and sludge disposal, especially for vast industrial sites. Addition of organic matter and planting strategically selected vegetation islands could facilitate the spontaneous recovery of such highly degraded environments.

Bagnoli Urban Regeneration through Phytoremediation

“…An ongoing in situ bioremediation aims to cleanup the soils in the contaminated zone of Bagnoli. In the brownfield site area, the presence of metals in the roots and tissues of Bituminaria bituminosa and Daucus carota plants, which growth spontaneously, was tested [37]. Theconcentration ofmetalsin the root was higher than in leaves and shoots, indicating the immobilization ofmetals in the roots of plants.…”

Rehabilitation of Industrial Barren in Arctic Region Using Mining Wastes

“…According to Adamo et al (2015), the conditions for plant cultivation on areas with highly degraded ecosystems should be created by using soil-forming materials and simulating soil conditions. In the polar latitudes, a rehabilitation of technogenically disturbed areas are easiest achieved through an improvement of the soil horizon with ameliorants, including those consisting of mining wastes.…”