I'm working on a Navy site, soils high in lead, which must be replaced to 18 inches deep. Some trees and very large shrubs in this soil cannot be moved. Who has experience with (hydraulic, slurry vacuum) total soil replacment to this depth, while keeping plants and trees upright. Soils are generall very fine textured to 2-3 feet over rocky parent material, on broad terraces. Some species are Monterey cypress, Victorian box, English yew, purple leaf plum, probably Prunus cerasifera, some very large Camellias. Concerns are keeping the plants mechanically stable. I appreciate any leads.
Joe McNeil

Reply to post by Joe McNeil, on April 05, 1999 at 11:07:36:

Joe McNeil! Where have you been hiding? And how many Easter eggs did you find?

Call Steve Day. I think he's just finishing up on a large, multi-year lead contamination project. He did a brief presentation in Seattle and I seem to remember some slides of laborers working with spoons to remove soil. I know he also did a ton of appraisals for plants that did not warrant careful soil replacement, so there has to be a 'triage' of sorts deciding on the appropriate course of action for each (or classes of) plant.