RMIT University, the City of Greater Bendigo and EPA Victoria are partnering together to undertake a field trial at the Albert Roy Reserve in Eaglehawk to test whether the planting of a native grass will help remediate and remove pollutants at the site left behind by Bendigo’s rich gold mining past.
The trial will be monitored by RMIT’s Julie Besedin who is undertaking a PhD in phytoremediation specialising in plants indigenous to the Bendigo region.
Ms Besedin said the phytoremediation trial is environmentally friendly and will involve planting common Australian native tussock grass within a defined area at the Albert Roy Reserve site.
“Once planted and fertilised using organic fertilisers, the tussock grass will uptake pollutants into the body of the plant to clean the soil,” Ms Besedin said.
“Once planted the site will be monitored and tested as the trial progresses.
“There are only a limited number of remedial options for removing arsenic and other pollutants with the most obvious being to excavate and dispose of affected soil in landfill. However, this is expensive and is merely relocating, rather than solving the problem.”
City of Greater Bendigo Property Manager Daniella McClure said land, both public and privately owned in Greater Bendigo is often found to have remnant contamination from arsenic resulting from historic mining operations and the processes used by miners to extract gold from the ore mined from deep under the city.
“Arsenic is a substance found in the environment that occurs naturally in crushed rock. It is often found near gold deposits and is extracted as part of gold and other mining activities.
“The waste left over after mining processes is called mine tailings. Mine tailings often look like fine clay or sand and commonly contain raised levels of arsenic.
“Many towns and cities including Bendigo in Victoria have been built in areas with a history of gold mining. Mine tailings that contain arsenic are spread over large areas of land, including land now used for housing and public facilities.
“Phytoremediation is an alternative way of dealing with arsenic contaminated soils and the City is excited to learn the results of this trial.”
