Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would have called it a suburb of Oakland :) No mention of the haunted IKEA either
What makes the IKEA haunted? I’ve been there a few times, but haven’t heard anything
Literal burial ground :)
Emeryville, California, and the challenge of cleaning up poisoned land
31–40 of 55 posts
Re: Emeryville, California, and the challenge of cleaning up poisoned land
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
What do you do with the hemp once it has absorbed the toxins?
It depends. Some plants will break certain elements down into less toxic components. In the best case, the components are non-toxic and you can do whatever you want with it.
Nothing can breakdown lead and other toxic metals unless you have a neutron source.
Re: Emeryville, California, and the challenge of cleaning up poisoned land
#33Kind of impressed that slate managed to call an incorporated city in a different county a “suburb in sf”.
The whole bay area is SF to anyone not from the area. The city/county boundaries aren’t what people care about when describing a general area. Most people from london don’t live in “city of london”
We live in Greater London, with the Mayor of London (the City has a Lord Mayor). We tend to adjust our local government boundaries to match development, or create green belts to prevent sprawl.
Re: Emeryville, California, and the challenge of cleaning up poisoned land
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
It depends. Some plants will break certain elements down into less toxic components. In the best case, the components are non-toxic and you can do whatever you want with it.
Nothing can breakdown lead and other toxic metals unless you have a neutron source.
I usually turn my old lead into gold. I've almost perfected the technique.
Re: Emeryville, California, and the challenge of cleaning up poisoned land
#35and here I am, wondering if it's safe to eat stuff grown in my yard because there was a fire at a nuclear weapons production facility 30 miles from here, 50 years ago.
We build on a patch of land that used to be small workshop removing paint from furniture and the like. The shop operated way back in the 70s and 80s, as far as I know. Well, at least long enough ago that just dumping all the chemicals used in the backyard. That backyard is now our garden. We were obliged to conduct soil analysis. So, overall the soil was:
1. Super expensive to get rid of, the only "recycling" site willing to take it was 150 km away. Luckily, we managed to convince the construction company to only transport the bare minimum. The reminder was moved to the front and is now sitting under the car port
2. The contamination is bad enough to be illegal for a kindergarden or play ground, but good enough for a general park
3. covering it up with 50 cm of clean stuff gets it "kindergarden" legal, 75 cm get it good for growing crops. So we have a front half of the garden where we plant flowers and such and a back half were vegetables and herbs and so grow.
Depends on how much you want to grow, this is potential solution. And it also more gentle for your back: a Hochbeet (German, that's what t looks like:https://www.amazon.de/s?k=hochbeet&adgrpid=1199567838429561&...)
Damn easy to build yourself in any size you desire, it's basically an open box, on the bottom and top, of weather resistant hard wood (so don't buy on Amazon!). You fill the bottom with old branches and other pieces of wood, then you multiple layers of earth. You have to top it up so every other spring. And put it some stones to get the wood away from the moisture of the ground.
Re: Emeryville, California, and the challenge of cleaning up poisoned land
#36I wish I had more to point at rn but, hemp crops can help pull toxins from soil. Other crops too , can help with a "brown zone" but hemp (and it's cousin) get more press.
What do you do with the hemp once it has absorbed the toxins?
Dump it either on a toxic waste landfill or at a high temperature incineration site [1].
[1] https://www.novus-environmental.co.uk/blog/why-is-hazardous-...
Re: Emeryville, California, and the challenge of cleaning up poisoned land
#37Mountain View (location of Google HQ) has playgrounds where it is most likely unsafe to let your kids play. This is across the road from Google offices at Fairchild. https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/SiteProfiles/index.cfm?fus...
Yeah, there's also a rubbish dump converted to a amphitheater next door that randomly and spontaneously catches fire.
VOC contaminated soil at Fairchild, Intersil and Intel sites should be safe except after flooding from exceptionally heavy rain. Presumably there's a plan to shut the playgrounds, but it's America so who knows...
Re: Emeryville, California, and the challenge of cleaning up poisoned land
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would have called it a suburb of Oakland :) No mention of the haunted IKEA either
What makes the IKEA haunted? I’ve been there a few times, but haven’t heard anything
Re: Emeryville, California, and the challenge of cleaning up poisoned land
#39and here I am, wondering if it's safe to eat stuff grown in my yard because there was a fire at a nuclear weapons production facility 30 miles from here, 50 years ago.
50 years, thirty miles from limited leak should be enough for the radiation to become negligible.
The metals are still toxic however. So I wouldn't recommend going for a geiger counter, instead try testing for chemical contamination.