Image Source: Diana Via Wikimedia Commons
May 26, 2018
Studies have shown that hemp can be beneficial to the environment due to its bioremediation characteristics; that is, its ability to extract some toxic contaminants from polluted soil and water.
Researchers in Pennsylvania are putting hemp’s bioremediative qualities to the test, by studying whether the plant can grow in areas polluted by the state’s coal mining past.
The state has awarded a hemp research permit to the U.S. Ecological Advanced Research & Conservation Hub (USEARCH), to grow and explore the plant’s potential industrial uses.
USEARCH’s executive director says the researchers will use acid mine water, brought up from a deep well, to see if hemp can grow using the tainted and reclaimed mine water.
