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Willows to transform polluted lakeshores
16/Sep/2006: Willows, deciduous trees and shrubs of the genus Salix, can transform a 662-acre industrial waste bed on the shores of Onondaga Lake, situated northwest of the city of Syracuse in the State of New York, according to study carried out by the scientists at the State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry, New York.
This study showed that willows can provide vegetative cover to the barren waste bed, preventing salty wastes in the dumpsite from being washed in to the lake adversely affecting its ecosystem. The study also showed that the vegetative cover can serve as a natural habitat for animals and plants in the region.
Willows are fast growing plants and can serve as a source of renewable energy. This quality made them to be chosen for the clean-up task, as they can support a diverse ecosystem and at the same time be harvested within 3-4 years to create an energy feedstock.
Honeywell, an American Multinational Corporation, which merged with Allied Chemical & Dye Corporation in 1999 (the industry that was responsible for dumping wastes at this site), is responsible for cleaning up area around the Onondaga Lake, polluted with industrial wastes. The company gave a $300,000 grant to the State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry, to grow willows on a six- acre test plot, for studying how the plants could transform the waste bed on the shores of the Onondaga Lake. The polluted area around the lake contains calcium carbonate and salty byproducts from the production of soda ash, at an old plant of Allied Chemical & Dye Corporation.
The results of this pilot study were submitted to the state Department of Environmental Conservation for further review. President Cornelius Murphy Jr., principal of the State University College and spokeswoman for Honeywell, said that the results of this study have been encouraging.
Kesavan Siva
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