Across the U.S., there are well over a million contaminated brownfields and superfund sites such as abandoned factories, industrial facilities, and former gas stations where toxic materials have accumulated in the soil. Many of these sites sit polluted for decades because cleanup is expensive and still relies on excavating the soil, hauling it away, and dumping it somewhere else. California alone exports more than half a million tons of contaminated soil every year, much of it to hazardous waste landfills in other states.
On this episode of Terra Verde, host Hannah Wilton speaks with environmental toxicologist and mycologist Dr. Danielle Stevenson about nature-based remediation as an alternative to costly “dig and dump” cleanup. Drawing from her research at three highly contaminated brownfields in Los Angeles, Stevenson describes how she works with fungi, plants, and microbes to pull heavy metals from soil, break down petrochemicals, and restore life to polluted sites. Stevenson also discusses her post-fire bioremediation research, where she is using “myco-wattles,” native plantings, and hyperlocal fungal inoculum to rebuild soils in landscapes scorched by the Palisades and Eaton fires.