Detox for Contaminated Soil

Every year I get questions from new homeowners and victims of chemical lawn care companies about what can be done to decontaminate their properties. Here’s an update on the detox program.

If your soil has been contaminated with heavy metals like arsenic and chromium in treated lumber or creosote in railroad ties, or with lead and arsenic from iron supplements, or if the contamination is from toxic pesticides like permethrin, MSMA, 2,4-D, Roundup, Sevin or petroleum spills, the solution is the same. No, digging the soil out and hauling it off is not the answer. That just moves the problem from point A to point B.

First, stop the contamination if it continues in any way. The violators need to be put on notice that they are responsible for the contamination and damage. Second, apply fine textured humates or activated charcoal. Fine textured zeolite can be mixed with the carbon products or applied separately. The rates of both products should be at least 20 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft.

The next step is to spray all the foliage and drench the soil in the problem area with Garrett Juice with orange oil (D-Limonene) added at 2 ounces per gallon of mix. The carbon products (humates, compost tea and charcoal) will tie up the contaminants; Garrett Juice and orange oil stimulate the microbes to feed on and breakdown the toxic molecules. Liquid molasses is in the Garrett Juice mix but adding additional molasses to the Garrett Juice mixture will help speed up the decontamination process. Adding a beneficial microbe product will speed up the process even more.

To ask questions about this newsletter or any other topic, click on the “Ask Howard” button on any of the Dirt Doctor site pages.