Ecological reuse returns polluted or otherwise disturbed lands to a functioning and sustainable use by increasing or improving habitat for plants and animals. "Ecological land reuse" is a broad term that encompasses a number of interrelated activities including the reconstruction of antecedent physical conditions, chemical adjustment of the soil and water, and biological manipulation which includes the reintroduction of native flora and fauna.
The May 2011 NARPM Training Conference featured a half-day session highlighting several case studies and information on cost-effective remedies that lead to an ecological reuse of a site. You can download the session presentations and view a short video on the importance of ecological reuse
here.
The EPA Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation will be offering a web-based seminar on soil contaminant bioavailability-based remediation of metal contaminants with soil amendments. Participants will learn what EPA has done and learned in this area, and where it is focusing its future efforts. You can register and view more information
here.
A local community group has established a cattle ranch at the Milltown Reservoir Sediments Superfund Site to aid ecological restoration efforts at the site. For more information, see this
news article.
EPA's new
factsheet on urban gardening is now available. You will find information on common contaminants that can be found in urban soil, ways to identify contaminants and reduce exposure, improving soils & growing plants in mildly contaminated soil, and additional resources and technical assistance.
EPA's webinar delivered by Mark Spenger and Michele Mahoney,
NARPM Presents: Ecological Revitalization: Turning Contaminated Properties into Community Assets, delivered on March 15, 2011, is now archived
here. This webinar presents information to help Remedial Project Managers (RPMs) and other site managers and stakeholders better understand, coordinate, and carry out cost-effective remedies that naturally lead to ecological land revitalization at contaminated properties as part of site cleanup.
Interview: Kansas State University interview with Dr. Sally Brown, Soil Scientist, University of Washington. Dr. Brown discusses the use of biosolids as soil amendments to remediate contaminated land and improve soil at both the large scale and small urban gardens.
Watch the video on YouTube
An EPA fellow recently completed a
report that recommends an approach for assessing a site's ecosystem services (the benefits that humans derive from ecosystems) prior to site remediation as a means to qualitatively or quantitatively track ecosystem changes associated with cleanup activities and to identify opportunities for avoiding or mitigating a cleanup project's negative effect on the ecosystem.
EPA, in cooperation with the National Park Service, will oversee use of an aircraft to plant grass and other vegetation on a 500-acre section of the Palmerton Zinc Superfund site in Pennsylvania along the Appalachian Trail at the top of Blue Mountain. This project is part of an ongoing action to repair environmental damage that was caused by emissions from zinc smelting operations in the Borough of Palmerton. For more information, see the
news release.
A new
fact sheet detailing ecological revitalization at the Palmerton Zinc Pile Superfund Site in Pennsylvania is now available. This case study also is featured on the EcoTool's
Case Study Profiles page.
Did you know that technical assistance on remediating and revegetating Superfund sites is available through EPA's Office of Superfund Remediation & Technology Innovation? To learn more about application of this technology, read
our new factsheet and visit our
soil amendments webpage.
The Brownfields and Urban Agriculture Special Webinar Series presented this fall by EPA is now available online
here. Audio and video recordings, along with transcripts and slides are available from both webinars,
State of Science and Research Needs and
Policy Barriers and Incentives to Reusing Brownfields for Community Gardens and Urban Agriculture.
A new Fact Sheet that details Phytotechnologies for Site Cleanup has been released. You can download it
here.
Why restore disturbed or contaminated lands?
Habitat preservation is key to an ecosystem's health and well-being, and there is a growing awareness that restoration is essential to recover ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed. Furthermore, contaminated or disturbed sites that have been restored are once again available for public use and enjoyment
The public's interest in the renewal of natural ecosystems has grown steadily during the past few decades. EPA's Superfund Redevelopment Program assists communities in returning some of the nation's worst hazardous waste sites to safe and productive uses. While the Agency works to protect human health and the environment, EPA also works with communities and other partners to consider future uses for restored Superfund sites. Many sites are now being used as parkland, agricultural land, residences and commercial space.
Ecological reuse can be incorporated into site remediation plans for Superfund sites because it provides habitat for wildlife and is not considered beautification or enhancement. Returning contaminated sites to beneficial use not only allows local communities to reclaim lost land – it can also lead to increased property values, a higher tax base, and protected open space. In addition, when local interests have a stake in the revitalized property, the chances are greater for continued productive use.
Benefits of Ecological Land Reuse
- Provides wildlife habitat
- Sequesters carbon
- Remediates and beneficially reuses damaged lands
- Improves property values
- Improves image
- Reduces wind and water erosion of contaminants
- Protects water resources
- Creates green spaces and corridors
- Improves the community by removing stigma associated with prior waste sites
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Occidental Chemical Corporation, Montague, Michigan RCRA Case Study
Occidental Site After
Before and after photos show the transformation of a former chemical manufacturing site into thriving wetland, prairie, and woodland habitat. The closure of Occidental Chemical Corporation facility in Montague, Michigan in 1983 left behind soil and groundwater contaminated with chlorinated organic chemicals.
Occidental Site Before
Why are ecosystems important to ecological land reuse?
Project managers seeking to return a contaminated site to a safe and productive use should look not only to the future of the site; but also consider its past structure and function by looking at the site as an ecosystem – a dynamic environment of living organisms and non-living matter intricately connected by energy and nutrient flows.
Many reuse projects focus solely on manipulating certain elements, such as soil, vegetation, and hydrology, with little attention paid to the links between these and the broader landscape and biosphere. Such actions may not necessarily address all of the ecosystem's needs. Other living organisms, such as insects, wildlife, and microorganisms also form an integral part of the system and must be accounted for, if possible, for the system to flourish. For example: many of the native flowering plant species in the United States rely on bees, hummingbirds or other pollinators to help them reproduce and disperse across the landscape. The flowers and the hummingbird have a symbiotic relationship that benefits them both – the flower produces nectar that the hummingbird feeds on, and the hummingbird carries pollen from one flower to the next, allowing it to reproduce. If a degraded site is repopulated with native wildflowers, but no pollinators are introduced into the site, the native plants may die out and be replaced by invasive species. In order to maintain desired levels of native plant diversity, the restoration and reuse process therefore must ensure that an adequate level of pollinator species is present.
Ecosystem-based reuse can be an important aspect of many remediation projects. If the goal is to return a site to a close approximation of its natural, pre-disturbance state, then an ecosystem-based approach is essential. This approach will ensure that the newly restored site once again becomes an integral part of its environment. More information can be found here: Climate Change and Ecosystems.
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Bunker Hill Superfund Site in Idaho
Bunker Hill Site After
Before and after photographs of the Bunker Hill Superfund Site in Idaho, where contamination was left on-site and capped with biosolids compost and wood ash. A long-term Operations & Maintenace plan was established to ensure that attractive nuisance issues did not exist.
Photographs courtesy of Dr. Sally Brown, University of Washington.
Bunker Hill Site Before
