Dirt from a burn pile

[clamjane]

We are working on some newly cleared land and there was a large burn pile of left over trees and stumps. Now it is a pile of ashes and rich looking black dirt so we started moving it to the compost pile. The problem is, the closer to the bottom of the pile we got, you could smell unburned diesel fuel. I know we don't want that in the compost pile, but can any of this soil be reclaimed and used for anything, or do we just have a pile of contaminated dirt?

[james dilley]

The soil can be saved. It is A practice to reclaim the soil from fuel spills, By keeping it in the Sunlight and turning it with A disc .That way the Contamination is.Decomposed by the Direct light. The smell will go Away,If it is left to air out. If in doubt Don't Compost it but you can direct till it into the feild you want to use Next year or the year after. Just Don't spread it thicker than 2" and let it air out and then till in. At least thats the way they reclaim the soil from filling Stations when they take the Tanks out, But in All fairness You need to use your own Judgement.

[texican]

I'd spread it out a bit, put some pine knots on it, light em, and put more wood on it, to get a roaring fire going, and hopefully burn up the rest of the diesel. I wouldn't put it straight into the compost pile.

I actually wouldn't put any of it in the compost pile, no matter the diesel... who knows what was burned in the pile... why risk heavy metal contamination or other toxics. I'd'a maybe spread it out a bit and see if grass would grow on it. If I had critters, I'd probably not let em graze on it.

If it were "my" burn, I wouldn't worry... someone else's, I'd have to say hmmmmmm...

good luck

[clamjane]

Thanks guys, My choice is to spread it out in a good sunny location, but I bet we end up trying to burn some of it too. And yeah Texican, you are right too about knowing what all was in the pile when it was burned. I didn't even think of that, but luckily it was clean.

[redgreenbluegil]

I'd try to burn off any excess diesel if possible (might need a propane weeding torch or strong fire if the soil has any water too). Try a web search for diesel soil contamination or diesel soil reclamation. I'm with Texican on the "who knows what else was burned in the pile". You might assume that it was just brush and maybe a few gallons of diesel or diesel/used oil (a little worse) to get the fire going, but if there was any construction nearby other items might have gone in too. When I bought my place there were burn barrels, which was fine (even though they were burning plastic at times...). The thing that really had me stumped though was the burn pile out back that I was digging out. I assumed they used this pile for brush or even other burnable trash, but I ended up finding dozens of glass bottles and other assorted trash that wouldn't burn like tin foil and assorted metal. So who knows what else they burned? I guess this was a trash pile where "if it burns, good. if it doesn't, so what". To make a long story even longer, I wouldn't use the soil for anything for a while (the rain/sun might leach/bleach out some of the contaminates over time).

"Leaves of three, let it be. Soil with oil, contaminated be thee."
-redgreenbluegil

"I tried Singing in the Rain once. All I got out of it was a lung full of water."
-redgreenbluegil

[thechickenladyx]

i think texan has it right. the plants will tell you. if nothing grows there, you will have contaminated your whole compost pile. i wouldn't take the risk.

i would also burn the excess off, before it leaches into the ground and causes who know what in damage.

jesse

[rwinsouthla]

Put it into another pile and treat it like a compost pile. Turn it occasionally. The bacteria that are in the soil will break the hydrocarbons from the diesel down over time. Give it two years and it'll be fine.

[SquashNut]

There might not be any bacteria in that soil because of the heat of the fire. I have a spot in my garden that was totally dead from burning wood shavings there. The ph is messed up too from the ashes. i've been adding lots of compost there for 5 years now and you can still see the circle that doesn't grow as well as the rest of the garden.

[MELOC]

i would build another fire or three and shovel the dirt on top of the coals, a little at a time, to incinerate the remaining oil. i would then use the stuff for a special compost pile intended for things/areas that don't involve food. use it for landscaping.