I was cleaning out files from my phone the other day and turned up a classy little number that I took with you guys in mind. I had forgotten about it until now.
Before you read any further, check out the picture I unearthed:
http://www.lakewaterontap.com/Misc/CSnow.jpg
Isn’t it a peaceful looking winter landscape? Want to make snow angels with me?
I took that picture in June.
Those piles of white powdery delight lying on the ground? The ones just begging to be scooped up and used in a snowball fight?
That’s powdered sodium hydroxide. Solid base. It would turn the skin on your hands into soap if you touched it. (Seriously.)
Yeah, we had a little spill on our site this summer that required some cleanup. I’ll bet you’re curious what a chemical plant does when it spills a ton of liquid caustic on the ground.
We dig up all the dirt, soak it in water, mix it up, and add acid until it becomes neutral again, of course. Then we put it right back where we found it, good as new, but slightly saltier. (Also true.)
This is bad for the grass in the short term (looks a little yellow, doesn’t it?), but it’s surprisingly harmless if handled properly and quickly.
The longest-lasting negative effect is a photo-fun blog post by a snarky engineer. And now that you've suffered through that, you can start healing too.
Unless all your grass died from reading this. It's not the reason I'd prefer people to give when asked why they think about me in the shower, but I'll take what I can get.
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2 comments:
How deep do you dig it up? And what acid do you use?
Depends on the area. Four feet is fairly typical, assuming that testing confirms that the problem is contained in this range. Any acid can be used that drives towards neutrality without adding some new unacceptable contaminant.
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