[Vwdiesel] Superfund Site

[S. Shourds]

David Cook wrote:

>Hey All-
>
>I accidentally spilled some used oil in the yard next
>to my shed this evening.  
>
>At this point, is there much I can do to clean it up,
>or at least mitigate the damage, or at least keep it
>from killing the grass in that area or is it basically
>too late?
>  
>

Depending on how much oil is involved, soil conditions, topography, 
etc., one of the actual remediation techniques is to till it up a little 
and watch it degrade naturally.  If it's sandy soil, there were gallons 
of oil, and it's right next to the creek or right next to your well, 
that's a different story.  The grass is probably hosed no matter what 
you do though sometimes it will act as a sort of fertilizer.  Depends on 
if there was so much it coats the soil and suffocates the roots or it 
it's just enough to add some organic matter.  And no, don't anybody go 
fertilize their tomatoes with motor oil, OK?

The other, official, industrial-grade remediation methods involve taking 
the affected soil to a haz-mat landfill or incinerating the soil.  Both 
of those are pretty hard on the grass, too. 

Wish I could remediate the floor of my garage biologically....

-Shalyn