GREENPOINT BIOREMEDIATION PROJECT (gBP)
...site under construction
...but some handy resources links in the meantime
Soil testing resources:
Soil Testing - The NYC Urban Soils Institute at Brooklyn College information-->
More information about NYC Urban Soils Institute-->
Soil Quality Indicator Sheets by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service-->
And their Web Soil Survey stie with some amazing maps-->
Healthy Soils, Healthy Communities program at Cornell University-->
Urban Soil and Contamination resource page-->
Mushroom resources:
Find out more about local mushrooms with the New York Mycological Society-->
Mycoremediation: Paul Stamets-->
Mycoremediation: Mushroom Mountain by Tradd Cotter-->
Soil Biology resources:
Soil Biology Primer with Eliane Ingraham-->
Mycobacterium vaccae - How to get High on Soil - The Atlantic Magazine-->
And finally a little bit of information about us:
The Greenpoint Bioremediation Project (gBP) is an artist-led creative cleanup and community partnership to innovate bioremediation practices for residents in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (one of the most polluted urban areas in the country). The gBP, in collaboration with the Urban Soils Institute at Brooklyn College, has been conducting research employing mushrooms to clean toxins from the soil while investigating how to enhance the beneficial microorganisms already living in it.
The gBP proposes a social and ecological experiment in the interdependencies of the natural environment, local communities, and political bodies in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. For over 140 years a cumulative oil spill estimated at 17-30 million gallons was released into the ground water in Greenpoint and spilled into Newtown Creek, one of the largest industrial waterways in New York City and an EPA Superfund site. Bioremediation efforts provides the framework by which community partners may engage to innovate and harness nature’s ability to clean toxins from their environment, as well as empower citizens to care for their common habitat.
Born of Newtown Creek Alliance’s bioremediation workgroup, working with socially conscious groups such as: Brooklyn College, Fortune Society, Build it Green! NYC, Brooklyn Grange, 596 Acres, community gardens and other individual advocates. Working with these organizations to create a systematic interface through research and public coordination, wherein each different social, natural, and political entity may come together in collaboration. The project will thereby mirror, enable, and create the symbiotic relationships often witnessed in natural systems, The gBP is the next iteration of how community, art, and science can lead to social change by bringing groups together to implement a healthier physical change in the environment.
For further information contact Jan Mun.