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vegetative Remediation I Process Offers Advantages I over 'Traditional Pump-and-Treat 1 Technologies Edward G Gathff The use of bioremedtatson technologies to clean up contaminated soil Edward Gadif,Pha, andgroundwaterisincreasingly sysnnrngfavorover more costly and often is president of Applied Natural Sciences, Inc, to ineffective mechanical approaches One new type of bioremediation pro- Hamilton, Obia He was cess,known as TreeYfedsatson", uses trees andothervegetatton to remediate formerly research soil by acting as a natural pump to extract and remediate contaminated directorfor agricultural groundwater in aquifers less than 3Q feet deep This article describes this studies at servi-rccb, innovative treatment method, shotes its advantages over traditional pump Irc_ and has directed the and-treat techniques, and explains bow TreeMediation is being used to analytical sciences division for Bowser extract nitrate and ammonium contamination from an aquifer in New Horner, Inc In addition Jersey to the development of the TreeMedlation process, $toremediation methodologies have become increasingly important ' be has worked as a means of cleaning up environmental contaminants These methods extensively witb remote take advantage of natural biological processes to reduce or eliminate risks nwreitoring with computers wit sensors to health and the environment posed by toxic or hazardous substances and' He continues to conduct Most bioremediation methods use microorganisms to metabolize or research and otherwise chemically transform hazardous or tonic substances Another coresultatioe services for method enlists the aid of plant species to assimilate contaminants or to ' TreeMediation and other create environments conducive to the degradation of contaminants vegetative remediation through natural biochemical processes (Erickson et at , 1994) These projects methods are often referred to as phytoremediation, a gro re mediation, or ' simply, vegetative remediation Plant species can be selected to extract and assimilate or extract and chemically decompose target contaminants Many inorganic chemicals ' considered environmental contaminants are, in fact, vital plant nutrients that can be absorbed through the root system for use in growth and development Heavy metals can be taken up and bioaccumulated in plant ' t1S5UeS Organic chemicals, notably pesticides, can be absorbed and metabolized by plants, including trees TreeMediationT`i takes vegetative remediation a step further by using ' trees as an alternative to groundwater "pump-and-treat" technology The TreeMediation process takes advantage of the extensive root systems of KEM�ti+rtox/Sv?A.uEx 1994 343