CHEMICAL ASSESSMENT OF SOIL QUALITY FOR ECOLOGICAL REMEDIATION STRATEGIES

In order to evaluate ecological remediation strategies for metal contaminated brownfields, soil characteristics and metal contents were assessed for a 12000 m(2) site impacted by non-ferrous metallurgical industry operations. Total and mobile metal concentrations, pH, total carbon and dissolved organic carbon were determined in a range at 10-30 cm and 40-60 cm depth from 16 sampling points and correlated to plant growth with respect to bioremediation using mycorrhizal trees. The results indicated a poor quality of the soil and disturbance in soil function, and revealed a high metal contamination without significant differences between distribution patterns at different depths in soil. The symbiosis allows the trees to develop an increased metal tolerance due to fungal detoxification mechanisms. The proposed land-use will allow for increased biomass of the ectomycorrhizal trees to be used as renewable energy source without harm to food chains or the environment. Our investigations thus confirm a potential ecological remediation and land-use strategy at metal contaminated agriculture/forestry sites, with the high advantage of keeping the economical implications minimal and bringing the landscape of the contaminated sites as close as possible to a natural landscape.