Montreal researchers use willows to decontaminate polluted soil, groundwater
MONTREAL — In an east-end Montreal neighbourhood, a polluted piece of former industrial land has become a garden.
Willows sway in the breeze, creating a pleasant green space as the plants slowly reverse decades of industrial activity that has left the chemical-soaked soil of the Pointe-aux-Trembles site too contaminated to use.
The trees are part of a four-year natural decontamination project by the city and the Universite de Montreal that uses the tall plants to rehabilitate former industrial “brownfields” that are left abandoned because they’re too expensive to redevelop.
Michel Labrecque, the head of research at the Montreal Botanical Garden and a biological sciences professor, said willows are “an excellent material” for decontamination because they’re hardy, fast-growing, can survive Quebec winters and thrive in even the most polluted soil.