‘Solar-powered vacuum cleaners’: the native plants that could clean toxic soil

Indigenous groups see hope in the environmentally friendly process of bioremediation. But will cities pay attention?

It almost looked like a garden. In Taylor Yard, a former railyard near downtown Los Angeles, volunteers knelt down to tend to scrubby plants growing in neat rows under the sweltering sun.

But beneath the concrete of the 60-acre site overlooking the Los Angeles River, the soils were soaked with an assortment of hazardous heavy metals and petrochemicals like lead, cadmium, diesel and benzene. As the volunteers worked to dig up entire plants for closer study - some with roots nearly 12ft deep - they wore protective gear and carefully avoided inhaling or touching the toxic soil. Even a brief exposure to the contaminants could cause serious health consequences.