In-situ phytoremediation of PFAS-contaminated soils to return farmland to useful productivity

The U.S. EPA estimates that 20 million acres of farmland have been contaminated by PFAS chemicals largely resulting from land spreading biosolids and use of firefighting foams at adjacent airports. Home Grown Fuels LLC's (HGF) mission is to return cropland to productive use saving small and mid-size family farms and restoring rural economic impact. Simply allowing these fields to remain unproductive is not an option because PFAS in soils migrates to groundwater drinking water wells and surface waters. Seven cancers are now related to PFAS; every time it rains the cancer spreads. Working with farmers HGF is developing a turn-key service that is environmentally friendly and uses sustainable practices to extract PFAS from soil. The innovation removes PFAS and safely destroys the harvested contaminated biomass. HGFs process capitalizes on proven phytoremediation by plants and the unique properties of HGF's proprietary biochar when used as a soil amendment to increase PFAS uptake. Resulting contaminated biomass will be subjected to high temperature destruction to degrade the PFAS compounds. HGF's turn-key service will include advising the farmer on crop selection and soil amendment pre- and post-growing season sampling and biomass removal and destruction. HGF will build on grow house/bench scale research done in Phase I to conduct field trials in Phase II to identify the most effective crops for PFAS extraction the proper doses of biochar and nutrients and testing protocols. They will also conduct a commercial-scale thermal destruction test to further confirm breakdown of the PFAS molecules at scale including emissions testing.