Mushrooms to clean up dioxin in Fort Bragg California

I am a huge proponent of myco-remediation and I often incorporate a bio-remediation stage in site development proposals. That's why I was just tickled pink to read this article in the NYTIMES today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/us/27bragg.html

The legacy of the large timber industry that once owned northern California is large tracts of contaminated land where their mills once stood. In the case of Fort Bragg the municipality was given rights to a 420 acre strip of seashore land that came with a typical toxic-soils caveat... they could have the land only if they dealt with the contamination, specifically five hot-spots that had high levels of dioxin. the options tabled to deal with the soil were either to haul the dirt away, or bury it in a lined landfill on site.

but then they contacted Paul Stamets, mushroom-guru cum-savvy eco-business warrior, and he suggested turkey tail & oyster mushrooms (medicinal tea & stir-frys, respectively). Dioxin (C₄H₄O₂) is an organic molecule with no heavy metals or radioactive isotopes, and as such it's ripe fodder for the tenacious mushroom mycelium that can break apart the chemical bonds and convert the basic atomic building blocks of carbon and hydrogen into rich mushroom proteins & sugars.

The Fort Bragg community voiced their support and were given a few yards of dioxin contaminated soil & facilities to conduct a myco-remediation experiment. It might be some years before we know for sure how well this works, but it's hopeful to see otherwise dangerous contaminants being turned not only into benign substances but straight into medicine and food.

For those who missed it, the recent San Francisco oil spill, resulting from an inebriated bar pilot slamming a tanker into the footing of the Bay Bridge, was cleaned up using mats made of human hair donated by the city's stylists and barbers. The mats were then hauled off and DIGESTED... oil & all, by oyster mushrooms, also provided by Paul Stamets.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/14/MNPQTBLE4.DTL

and finally here's the first board from my final project last year where I proposed deconstructing the 101 Freeway in the Presidio and digesting the asphalt using mushrooms.

“they suddenly noticed each other, synchronized their motions, and danced together indefinitely,”

Microbiota, the bacteria, archeae, and yeasts that cohabit with us in a commensal union around a shared table. there are 10 times as many bacterial cells in our bodies than human cells.

We know so little about them that the estimated number of bacteria species in the body ranges from 500 to 100,000. every square inch of our skin, mouth, stomach, and digestive tract are slicked with another scale of life.

while we can survive without their assistance it would not be pleasant; 30% of our useful calories come from carbohydrates bacteria have broken into simple blocks our pedigreed cells can stomach, the hormones they secrete direct our cells where and when to store fat, bactera synthesize vitamin k, folic acid, and B7.

we can be considered obligatory mutualists with this zoo. yet there are hordes of microorganisms that can make us ill or perhaps just change our behavior (Taxoplasma gondii may makes men insecure while giving a warmheart to the women... HERE)

one of the most important functions of our native flora is to keep the pathogenic types from setting up shop and giving us health troubles. we are large vessels that maintain optimal conditions for bacteria, fungus, and archaea, three of the oldest organisms on the planet. we are their habitat and just as we depend on them they depend on us. the wars they wage on our behalf, the mental clarity of health they give us, go unnoticed and we shovel in sugars and they prosper. like automatons programmed to spread & multiply, providing innumerable guts & hands that share beds, have sex, exchange money, stay warm, and continually engulf food. the perfect shell.