[CPEO-MEF] Uranium and Tumbleweed

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Tumblin' tumbleweeds might roll up uranium 

By Sue Vorenberg 
Albuquerque Tribune
November 9, 2004

The answer to uranium contamination in deserts across the world might be
blowing in the wind.

It turns out tumbleweeds are good for something other than classic
cartoon fodder. The windblown nuisances are highly effective at eating
uranium out of desert soils, said Dana Ulmer-Scholle, a senior research
scientist at New Mexico Tech in Socorro.

"Of course, the problem is after they eat the uranium they do tend to
tumble," Ulmer-Scholle said. "What you could do, though, is use them on
a contaminated site and then harvest them before they start to seed."

Ulmer-Scholle and other scientists from Tech and New Mexico State
University in Las Cruces have spent the past three years studying plants
in New Mexico, looking for those that best remove uranium from soil. She
is presenting a poster on the topic at the Geological Society of America
meeting in Denver on Wednesday.

In wetter climates, plants are often used to clean environmental
contaminants, including uranium. In deserts that's harder, because
plants don't grow as easily or quickly, Ulmer-Scholle said.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news04/110904_news_tumble.shtml

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
_______________________________________________
Military mailing list
Military@list.cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org/mailman/listinfo/military