Toxic Carrots.

• Author: Taylor, Brian J.
• Position: Brief Article

Environmentalists and government officials have long dreamed of harnessing nature to clean up hazardous waste. The Department of Energy already sponsors an exhaustive research program in "bioremediation," a process that uses living organisms to reduce toxic substances (A rundown of the program is available at www.lbl.gov/NABIR/.) But the most promising recent development has come from the private sector.

Colorado entrepreneur Frank Burcik recently completed a pilot project demonstrating that vegetables and other plants could absorb metals from toxic waste runoff, using a process called phytoremediation. Burcik, president of Water Treatment and Decontamination International, set up his hydroponic underground lab in a mine drainage...