Producers confident of developing olive oil from sludge pit
Olive trees are being used to clean-up former mining land contaminated with heavy metals at Broken Hill, in far western New South Wales.
The trees are about to produce their first vintage of olive oil and those involved in the project are confident the oil will be free of contaminants.
Doctor Steve Flecknoe-Brown from the Broken Hill Gourmet Foods Cooperative, says the oil, from trees planted in a former sludge pit, will be independently tested.
“We’re going to get the NSW Department of Agriculture to assess not only the quality of the oil as it compares to other olive oils, but they will also independently, in a completely bullet proof fashion test it for heavy metals, so that we can prove our principle that this is a good way to rehabilitate heavy metal contaminated soils, not just here in Broken Hill, anywhere in the world,” he said.
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Tuesday, April 17th, 2007 at 10:50 am under
