Possibly contaminated soil, what to do?

[Grastgirl]

I'm new to these forums, so hopefully I've put this in the right place, if not I apologise.

We moved into our rented house in May, choosing one with a garden in the hope that we could get into gardening and particularly grow our own fruit and veg. It looked a bit of a state when we viewed it but we thought it was just weeds and a bit of rubble. Turns out it's full of all sorts of rubbish, much of it has been burnt (not by us I might add), including the remains of a wheely bin. There are the remains of sofa foam, polystyrene, batteries and lots of screws and nails.

I'm worried about what will get into the plants if we grow them on this soil. Is there a way to test for toxins easily? Is there anything we can grow over the winter that might absorb the worst, so we could be reasonably confident of eating anything from it next summer? I'm already working on clearing the rubble and the obvious rubbish as well as putting any weed greenery in the bin, rather than composting it up so any contaminants get taken out of the garden.

Any advice greatfully received.

[vicky]

Hi, welcome to the vine!

You can get your soil tested for all sorts of things (Google soil testing toxins uk or similar) but I'd imagine it would cost a few pounds.

I know plants such as leafy greens absorb more lead and those such as tomatoes less so you may be safer with things that fruit rather than those you eat the whole plant.

You could plant a green manure over the winter and NOT dig it in.

I would be tempted to instead make some raised beds as the roots of plants only go down a certain distance, so if your beds were say, 1 1/2 ft deep with fresh soil you'd be safe from any potential toxins in the existing soil.

[Pumpkin Becki]

Hi Grastgirl,

Welcome to the Vine from me too.

When we bought our building plot, we were told that another party had had test bores done, and had come back positive for certain contaminants, like lead. The report said we would need to scrape off and dispose of at least 60cm of soil all over the garden to get rid of it. This has got us back to the clay/ chalk subsoil which is awful, so we are growing most things in brick raised beds (have a look at the pictures in my album), and will build up some decent soil again with imported compost, manure and some winter green manure as well.

I think ours was a fairly drastic case though, it was a dumping ground for car parts, there were two layers or tarmac, and an asbestos outbuilding!!

[Grastgirl]

Wow, pumpkin, I seriously hope I don't find what you found! Would have considered raised beds if we were planning on staying for a while, but we want to get our own place in the next year or so, so it's probably not worth it.

Vicky I think I will have to get it tested, afterall it might not be as bad as I think it is, alternatively maybe I'll just stick to the pots for fruit and veg and plant some wild flower seed or something else low maintenance.

[Pumpkin Becki]

Yeah, it wasn't funny, but we've built the house knowing we'd have to drop the level across the site.

You could go for temporary raised beds made from scaffolding boards fixed to the ground with 2x2" posts in the corners. If you leave the posts poking up above the top of your board, it means you can secure further ones on top. At the lottie, we've got raised beds built in this way, and some are three boards high. That should give you plenty of depth, and its nothing your landlord couldn't demolish once you've moved on.

[Grastgirl]

Possibly not as tricky as I thought then. I'll run it past the other half. Thanks

[organic]

If you can get wood for free the raised bed thing becomes even more attractive. They are really simple to build too, especially if you don't object to buying in some soil/compost and leaving it behind when you leave.

Alternatively, if your landlord is a real human being, it might be worth talking to him about putting in some raised beds.
For example, maybe he'd pay for materials and topsoil - you and your other half clean up the garden, build and fill the beds. If the garden was an issue for him you might even get a few quid knocked off your rent in return for labour.

Then again, he could be one of those landlords that couldn't care less what the place is like and would just tell you to go whistle.

You could also have a look at things like growing tomatoes upside down (yes, really) or look into "square foot gardening" or "balcony gardening" or other similar search terms in google. I'm sure you'll find a solution that will suit if you'd rather not risk it with the soil in the garden.

Good luck.

[Pumpy]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but my mate is living in a house which was built on an old quarry pit and his garden "may" be polluted. He is of the opinion that as his house has been there for over 100 years, any contaminates would be, by now, long gone. I think he said an OS map from 1878 showed it then as an "old quarry pit".

He contacted the council who said that yes this was correct and this site along with some others was on a list for further investigation but so far none had been. The council also said they had to investigate under the Envirnmental Protection Act 1990. My thinking is well they are a bit slow, if they haven't done any in 20 years!

So the basic question is, does anyone know who can do soil tests privately, how much does it cost and how long does it take?

Thanks

Pumpy

[zazen999]

I'd get back onto the council and find out what they think it could be polluted with before finding out about soil tests. There are hundreds and you need more to be going on with that just 'may be polluted'. Someone in the area might have already had them done in the past, so it is worth doing a bit more investigation. Have any neighbours got anything growing, veg wise, in their garden?

[Pumpy]

Thanks for the reply, I am looking at a copy of the email his council sent him and it says that "this department has no records of having received any complaints or reports regarding adverse ground conditions" which doesn't really help much!
Things will still grow on contaminated soil, its just not a good idea to eat them I guess. Being fairly central London, the gardens are small and a lot are paved or decked over anyway, if they aren't most will just be a patch of grass and a few flowers.

I have no idea what it "may" be contaminated with, but just wondered if anyone had any experience of this and if paying a small fee would speed the process up and put his mind at rest?

Thanks again

Pumpy

[Two_Sheds]

it says that "this department has no records of having received any complaints or reports regarding adverse ground conditions"

Well, that's good then. If it had been a factory, or a dumping ground for chemicals or heavy metals, they'd know about it.

Don't get in too much of a lather about it. Many contaminants in soils are also being ingested from other sources: our food, water, cigarette smoke, traffic fumes, paint, textiles, plastics and in the air.

this might help you: http://www.who.it/document/e64737.pdf

[zazen999]

Thanks for the reply, I am looking at a copy of the email his council sent him and it says that "this department has no records of having received any complaints or reports regarding adverse ground conditions" which doesn't really help much!
Things will still grow on contaminated soil, its just not a good idea to eat them I guess. Being fairly central London, the gardens are small and a lot are paved or decked over anyway, if they aren't most will just be a patch of grass and a few flowers.

I have no idea what it "may" be contaminated with, but just wondered if anyone had any experience of this and if paying a small fee would speed the process up and put his mind at rest?

Thanks again

Pumpy

I have tons of experience - I worked in soils labs for 14 years. Which is how I know that for example, some soils in wandsworth are contaminated with cyanide.....

What I would do, and believe me there are hundreds of contaminants so before wasting money, dig up a few handfuls, mix together in a tray and [with gloves on] handle it, smell it, pop some into a jar of hot water and shake it and leave it to cool and settle.

It if is contaminated, it will likely smell chemically, be slimey or sticky [more than just clayey], or when you take the top off the jar, there will be a oily film or [once the soil settles] a discolouring of the water.

[Pumpy]

Thanks again for the replies.

I'm not worked up about it, its not my garden! But think its odd that his council warn him about it, say they need to investigate then nearly admit to actually not doing much at all in 20 years, but my dealings with councils are very limited.

When you say "they'd know about it", do you mean that nothing would grow? I simply don't have a clue about this kind of thing.

My mate is actually on honeymoon at the moment, but will tell him to do the soil in a jar thing when he gets back.

Thanks again.

Pumpy

[Snadger]

My first allotment plot had been a dumping ground and bonfire area for the whole of the allotments. I just dug it over, removed all the carp and give it liberal dozes of organic matter. Grew smashing tasty vegetables in it and deffo no side effects.

If you're worried about it though I imagine there's loads of companies who will test the soil for you!

[Two_Sheds]

When you say "they'd know about it", do you mean that nothing would grow?

No, I mean that the council would know if there'd been any chemical works etc on the land. The details would be in the house deeds (or the HiPs pack or whatever it's called) too, wouldn't they?