Proposed Project:Develop and Implement Bio-Remediation Methodology to Restore Land Damaged by “Slash & Burn” Clearing and Coca Cultivation, Eradication, and Cocaine Processing

Project Directive:Utilizing BioAugmentation, Restore the Natural Balance to Water & Soil in the Environment lost to Slash & Burn Farming, and polluted by Residual Contaminants from Defoliants and Cocaine processing in the Andes Region

Foreword
The project “Andes Regional Water & Soil Reclamation” originates from the need to restore water and soil conditions in the areas currently damaged by the cocaine trade in order to reestablish an agricultural economy able to support the local population while protecting environmental resources. The Andes Region has a rich agricultural history, which has recently been overwhelmed by the demand for cocaine. Mountain Forest farm land has been lost to “slash & burn” method used to cultivate the coca plants, further polluted by efforts to defoliate this crop, as well as the dumping of chemicals used in the processing of the coca leaves into refined cocaine.

Peru has great ecological diversity, uniquely representing some 187 of the 193 known micro-climates; with some 34 ecological sub-regions as defined by Geologists across its Costa, Sierra and Selva Regions. As such, Peru’s complex amalgam of micro-climates represents tremendous potential for food production. Andean Agriculture started some 9,000 years ago, diversified by the specialized ecological niches and crop species of the various elevation biospheres. The pre-Chavin Peruvians (1000 B.C.) tapped these resources through elaborate use of large-scale irrigation works and terracing, which supported intensive pre-Columbian human settlement, population growth, and the emergence of one of man’s most important prehistoric centers of plant domestication.

Clearly Peru represents a very important opportunity to demonstrate mankind’s ability to address the ecological needs for Clean Water, Soil-Farming Restoration, and Global Food Supply in a Socially / Economically / Environmentally Responsible Manner. Water and Soil Remediation is fundamental to securing Social and Economic Sustainability, and Peru is uniquely positioned to develop these environmental projects.

Peru’s environment has come under significant stress from the cultivation of coca crops, and the efforts to eliminate this illicit crop. This has resulted in an environmental crisis where deforestation has lead to large-scale soil erosion, contamination of surface and ground water, toxic pollution of rivers, and down-stream flooding. This has caused significant social and economic upheaval in the local communities, as well as the Country as a whole. Cocaine Production, and its related pollution of the environment, is considered by Environmentalists to be one of the most destructive forces to bio-diversity of the entire planet. Peruvian Drug Syndicates have dumped millions of liters of harmful chemicals, and have deforested hundreds of thousands of hectares of land for coca cultivation. Stripped land and abandoned coca fields have caused massive flooding and landslides, poison the water supply, reduce wildlife habitat, and killed-off many species. In Peru alone, the Andes Region has lost some 350 species of birds and some 150 streams, from areas like the Huallaga Valley, have been declared dead due to pollution toxicity exceeding the safety standards set by the World Health Organization.

Natural Solutions As seen in the Exxon Valdez catastrophe, biological augmentation can significantly speedup environmental clean ups, considered to have reduced the remediation time from 10 to 3 years in the Gulf of Alaska. Where chemical or mechanical methodologies are impractical, or the cost of removing contaminates in large areas of land or bodies of water is totally cost prohibitive, BioRemediation has proven to be the best alternative. In field trials hydrocarbons, perchlorates and other chemicals have been completely removed by using bacteria to degrade the organic waste and pollutants. Actual treatment plans are designed to address the specifics of each situation, but in general have been proven able to restore soil when applied to the surface by irrigation or spraying, injected into wells to treat ground water contamination, and more recently applied directly into rivers to clean running bodies of water or lakes and ponds.

The role of bacteria can seem complex, yet once the mysteries are unveiled we can see the elegant simplicity of the natural process. All life as we know it began from bacteria and evolved to fill every environmental niche found on Earth. As such, bacteria now continue to serve as the recycling custodians of earth.

As decomposers, bacteria break-down organic wastes, returning these basic elements back into the air and soil in their simplest inorganic forms by the biogeochemical cycles. The numerous species of bacteria live in an astonishing variety of places, and live on every food you can imagine. Some can metabolize gasoline and other hydrocarbons, and it is possible to find a bacterium able to oxidize anything from sugar, to corn proteins, to soybean oil, to iron nails, to sulfur, to the compounds in decaying wood. All life depends on the chemical cycling and decomposing done by bacteria, which can convert carbon and nitrogen from organic to inorganic forms. The Earth’s Ecosystem, both on land and in the water, depends heavily upon the activity of bacteria. The cycling of nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur is completed by their ceaseless labor.

Purpose and General Description of the Project
The main purpose of this Water and Soil Reclamation Project Proposal is to address the immediate needs of the Region in the most economical and environmentally friendly method, one that is easily mobilized and can be implemented on a local basis.

While the technology is proven, BioRemediation for specific applications should be confirmed through pilot projects. As such, we propose that the “Andes Water & Soil Reclamation Project” would implement a series of trials to confirm and establish the specifics for treatment in the Andes Region. Based on a review of the Andes Research Materials (bibliography available on disk), there are four areas that should be reviewed:

Soil Remediation – “Slashed & Burned” Areas should be treated with various levels of biologically active solution to determine best practice in restoring soil bio-activity, reduce pollutants and promote plant growth. In this trial, we would recommend setting up one acre plots, separated so there is no cross contamination, but selected so that they are representative of each other; and then treat the first three at increasing dosage rates and leave the last untreated as a control. Basic treatment would be applied by spraying the biologically active solution on the soil surface every four weeks, and monitor results to determine best dosage and treatment regime. The goal would be to restore soil to productive farming, arrest soil erosion, and degrade any residual pollutants.

Contaminant Remediation – Cocaine Process Plants have dumped large quantities of chemicals used in refining the coca leaves. The primary residuals are acetone, kerosene, ammonia, sulfuric acid, potassium permanganate, ethyl ether, calcium carbide, toluene, glyphosate and hydrochloric acid. One of these abandoned facilities, referred to as Toxic Craters, should be selected for a Surface and Ground Water Treatment Trial. Site will need to be mapped for geological flow of ground water, and test holes drilled to determine pollutant depth. The goal would be to develop the best method for application, determine if injection wells are required, and while bacteria can degrade these compounds, we should monitor and confirm the effect on degrading these various chemical contaminants in the field.

Eradication Methodologies – Currently, Peru has adapted a manual, chemical-free, method for coca crop eradication. While very costly, slow and tedious; this method was selected to stop the environmental pollution caused by using chemical defoliants. For the most part, a Monsanto’s Formula with Surfactants was sprayed on the crops to kill the plants. Some experts consider this to be a relatively mild chemical compound, and some do not. Therefore, we recommend that we review and select several Formulas to test as a part of a Two-Part Treatment Process. This might prove to be cost effective method to use in the future when combined with BioRemediation. As such, we would recommend implementing a trial where several plots of coca plants are treated with selected defoliants, and then treat these plots through BioRemediation. The goal would to be determine if an environmental safe method can be developed for a combined treatment protocol utilizing a specific Defoliant & BioRemediation Regime.

Open Water Remediation – Based on proven results in various other projects, we recommend selecting a section of a polluted river, with moderate flow rates, that passes through a village or populated area. Treat one section of the river above the village, and one section below the village, to reduce the COD, BOD, TSS, Total Nitrogen and other Organic Pollutants. The goal will be to improve the water quality and restore a healthy environment to the waterway. The trial will monitor samples above the treated section and samples from below the treatment zone to observe water quality parameters in order to establish “best method” for long-term treatment.

These solutions will aim at providing economic benefits to the local population in terms of employment through jobs implementing future remediation projects, and through restoration of legal crop cultivation, as well as the restoration of habitat for fishing and wildlife relating to food production and tourism.

In addition, these solutions will aim to remediate the environment, which will improve health conditions for the general population by significantly improving water quality, reduce the danger of floods and landslides, and reduce the reliance on the cocaine trade and its related violence.