The UA College of Pharmacy hosted an international conference this past week in Tucson looking at low-cost ways to stabilize mine tailings in arid environments. [right: Saginaw Hill mine tailings, near Tucson. Credit: Janick F. Artiola]
It was organized by the UA Superfund Basic Research Program, which is funded by the National Institute for Environmental Health Science. Results of the conference were not released immediately; they will be published as a collaborative 'white paper' journal article.
Among the projects at the SBRP is one to "develop a feasible revegetation strategy for the phytostabilization of metal contaminants in mine tailing piles in arid and semi-arid ecosystems."