Saddled With Legacy of Dioxin, Town Considers an Odd Ally: The Mushroom

[Guest guest]

I was just wondering what your thoughts on this were.

April 27, 2008

Saddled With Legacy of Dioxin, Town Considers an Odd Ally: The Mushroom

By ANNIE CORREAL

FORT BRAGG, Calif. — On a warm April evening, 90 people crowded into

the cafeteria of Redwood Elementary School here to meet with

representatives of the State Department of Toxic Substances Control.

The substance at issue was dioxin, a pollutant that infests the site of

a former lumber mill in this town 130 miles north of San Francisco. And

the method of cleanup being proposed was a novel one: mushrooms.

Mushrooms have been used in the cleaning up of oil spills, a process

called bioremediation, but they have not been used to treat dioxin.

" I am going to make a heretical suggestion, " said Debra , who

works at a health food collective and has lived in the area for more

than two decades, to whoops and cheers. " We could be the pilot study. "

Fort Bragg is in Mendocino County, a stretch of coast known for its

grand seascapes, organic wineries and trailblazing politics: the county

was the first in the nation to legalize medical marijuana and to ban

genetically modified crops and animals.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/us/27bragg.html