Eventually, we all die.

Check with the folk who do the spraying and plowing and find out what they're using. If it's really nasty, stay away. If possible, make arrangements so that a section for you to garden is left alone. You may need to think long term and get other gardeners in on the project in order to take over the whole site, thereby relieving the district of any maintainence duties or need to spray.

The oil site I assume is just an old well? I wouldn't worry too much about it if it is. Raw petroleum hasn't been cracked and molecularly fiddled with so much. It's mostly naturally occuring long chain hydrocarbons. That's not to say it's good, but I'd worry less than about a refinery. Your city offices would probably have more info on history and associated problems.

On the power line issue, people will argue. My take is that , while I wouldn't want to live under them, eating vegies that grew under them shouldn't be a problem.

Dan

Dan's advice sounds pretty good. Around here, the county sprays the roadsides with herbicides. But if homeowners put up signs that say "No Spray!", they don't spray. Maybe you can just put in a request, and tell them that you will take care of the weeds. If the property belongs to the school, do they have a mower or something similar that could be used? If the school isn't the owner and you don't know who is, try the County Assessor's Office. You will probably need the address, or at least the address of the school so they can look it up.

Like Dan said, living under power lines isn't good, but I've never heard of anything harmful from growing food under them. I've seen quite a few places that do it.

Sue

I haven't talked to the lady who actually runs the lot yet, but I did run into another lady at school yesterday. She said the lot has already been sprayed. She knows because she got sick and they had to pay for her doctor bills. She said they sprayed with round-up. Once all the mustard (I think it's mustard) dies, they're going to plow it under. There's an old plow/trailor thing in the lot. I think they'll use that.

So what do you guys think? How bad is round-up? Is anything even going to grow? Have they salted the earth? Can I plant anything in particular to heal it? I already planned a cover crop that I'll run buy you guys when I find out if I can even do it, but any suggestions on what could be added or what can be done to heal my poor little dirt now would be great.

"Eventually, we all die."

Am I going to die sooner than I would have?

As nasties go, Roundup is relatively benign. That's not to say compleatly benign, but not on the same level as, say, 2-4-D. I've heard some comments about links to cancers, but the book "Living Downstream", which has been likened to a modern "Silent Spring" and is also about pesticides and their effect on us, has little or nothing to say about it. Even those of us who are careful about what we eat probably end up eating some things that have been grown in soil where it's been used.

In theory, it's short lived and acts by direct absorption into green tissue. It decomposes in a normal environment fairly quickly. That said, I don't know the method of decomposition. Some things decompose in sun and air and heat and UV. Some decompose underground in a biologicaly active system. I don't know which this one is or how to hurry it.

I don't think this is something that we can tell you if it's safe or not. There are many opinions and standards of cleanlyness. There is all kinds of research data from sources you may or may not trust. I can say that under USDA Organic standards, it won't be organic for another three years after it's been sprayed. I can also say that I know of people who think it's harmless enough to drink. It's immediate effects on humans are minimal. (That's what made DDT so great too though.) I think you need to do your own research and form your own opinion of how bad Roundup is.

My personal opinion, which others are welcome to disagree with, is that local and fresh and self-sufficient are just as important as USDA Organic. I also believe that eating good vegies from less than perfect organic soil is better than not eating them.

One option that you might persue is to find a cheap source of soil or soil substitute. I once met an urban farmer who was able to divert all the waste from the produce departments of several supermarkets for compost and he grew in that. City parks departments may have wood chips from maintaining street and park trees. (It holds water well, but is a nitrogen thief and decomposes slowly so it may be best for pathway material.) Some are foolish enough to throw away lawn clippings. (Know your source and what might have been applied to it on that one.) In your area there may be other sources of organic matter. Investigate trying to raise beds or windrows of organic material such that you would be gardening on that site but not in that soil.

Meanwhile, a cover crop is always a good thing, and shouldn't be set back by the Roundup.

Dan

I did some of my own research, but I tend to trust experienced human being more than the research I have time to do, so thanks for the advice Dan. It seems to me that the soil will be somewhat toxic for a year after reading your response and this: http://www.guarding-our-earth.com/aggrand/roundup.htm

So it looks like my plan to cover crop most the area and then do a sizeable sheet mulch in the area I plan to garden in the near future will be a good bet. I hadn't planned on the added benefit, and in fact the necessity, of the sheet mulch raising my gardenning space up out of the actual soil. Sweet deal!

So I'm going to ask some questions this week and further research cover crops and then run that by you guys. It's going to be a sizeable area, so I don't want to spend a hundred or so dollars on things that aren't going to grow!

Thanks again Dan.

If you want to find out whether the site across the garden space is a superfund site, go to: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl.htm

For cover crop info, try Peaceful Valley Farm Supply. They can help with what is best for your area. You'll need to know if your soil is acid, alkaline or fairly neutral, and probably your USDA zone.

From what I understand about RoundUp, it's supposed to break down when it touches the soil, but most of that info comes from the people that make it, and the people who said DDT and above-ground nuclear testing were safe, our govt.

Before you use any mulch or compost from the county (etc), ask if clopyralid is used in the area. It is a herbicide that last for at least two years in the soil or tainted compost.

If you have a local Cooperative Extension Service in your area, they can be a good source of local info.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Peaceful Valley Farm Supply