Some Strategies to Address Contaminated Land

Legacy contamination is still prevalent today and poses a health risk as interest in cultivation of abandoned agricultural lands and vacant lots has grown in recent years. We have investigated the Duke Farms site, located in a suburban area of New Jersey, which is representative of large suburban areas of previously agricultural land in the Eastern U.S. that had been treated with lead and arsenic-containing pesticides decades ago.

At Sterling Community Garden in Brooklyn, which was a highly publicized site, our team assessed the nature and extent of lead and arsenic contamination. We estimated the potential exposure of children to lead and arsenic through direct (ingestion and inhalation) and indirect (consumption of contaminated vegetables) exposure pathways in the same garden. In both case studies we evaluated the effectiveness of amendments on reducing the bioaccessibility and phytoavailability (absorption by plants) of lead and arsenic in soil. In NYC urban community gardens, we have created soils for mitigating Pb exposure and evaluated the use of clean excavated glacial sediments and locally produced compost in collaboration with NYC Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation.