Recovery of meth dump site?

[tom s. in tn.]

Can anything be done to recover ground where meth waste has been dumped?

Nominal Ph has returned back up to 6.0 with lime etc over the past 3 years. Deep plowing helps, but unknown chemicals continue to leach back toward surface stunting anything planted in those areas.

Any ideas ?

[BA Deere]

I would get a complete soil test to see what`s going on, perhaps the "chemicals" tied up or leached out a primary nutrient.  It could be Potash that`s needed to raise your Ph, if you already have enough calcium you`ll only tie up other nutrients by over applying lime.  Also you have to raise the organic matter for a "buffer", maybe work in wheat straw or something to build humus.  But you need a soil test to know what`s really going on.

[Shaggy98]

If it's just a real small area that needs fixing and possibly needs the OM raised, along with the wheat straw you could hand seed a select few types of cover crops the wouldn't interfere with your next cash crop to be planted.  Something like oats, forage peas and/or turnips and radishes.  I would do exactly what the previous comment was and do a complete soil test of the area of concern.

If you do decide to use the cover crop approach, I'd consult a cover crop seed dealer and ask for a multi species blend that would winterkill easily so you wouldn't need to worry about escaping seed. Before I would do anything though, I would perform the soil test to be certain the ground hasn't become sterile in that location.

Good luck in finding a remedy for this spot and let us know what the problem was and how you corrected it.  We are all here to help one another.

[tom s. in tn.]

Yes, these are small spotty areas where apparently acidic type waste was dumped.

I'll take the advice provided about a complete analysis, and explain this problem from the beginning and see what reply I can receive.

Thank you very much, and I'll post back in the future if I am able to pass on any usable information.

Tom S. in Tn.