[Pil-pc-oceania] clean olive oil grown in contaminated soil

[David Arnold]

ABC radio national Bush Telegraph
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bushtelegraph had this
story last week.

"The Silver City is already famous for its deposits of lead, zinc and
silver.

In fact Broken Hill Gourmet Products decided to plant its two and a half
hectare olive grove at an old mine tailings dam.

The two fold benefit is the olive trees help clean up the mine site and
produce a oil that contains no poisonous heavy metals.

*In this report*: Steve Flecknoe-Brown, local physician and chairman of
Broken Hill Gourmet Products."

The explanation is given that "salts of heavy metals are not soluble in
oil".  The trees themselves take up the heavy metals, but the oil they
produce is shown in tests to be free from contamination.

This indicates potential for the use of olive trees for olive oil as street
trees along busy roads that accumulated lead contamination prior to the
introduction of unleaded petrol.  [ i believe there may be other
contaminants in ulp that would have to be considered or tested for in the
oil produced.]

dave

-- 
David Arnold
Permaculture Designer
4446 Murchison Rd
Violet Town VIC AUS 3669
03 5798 1679
arnold.vt at gmail.com
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