IMPROVEMENT OF PLANT PRODUCTIVITY POTENTIALS OF HIGHLY DISTURBED SOILS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1015955
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2018
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2023
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIV
1310 BOLLEY DR
FARGO,ND 58105-5750

Performing Department
School of Natural Resource Sciences

Non Technical Summary
North Dakota has had an increase in the disturbance of soils as a result of energy development (e.g., installation of pipelines) and accidental releases (produced water and oil). Industry has been increasingly using pipelines to transport oil, natural gas, and oil-produced byproducts such as brine. Each soil disturbance is unique, so reclamation efforts for these highly disturbed soils need to be tailored to each situation. Produced waters can have total salt concentrations up to five times greater than seawater, with sodium and chloride being the main cation and anion, respectively. Thus, reclamation efforts need to consider and follow methods used to improve saline and sodic soils. Disturbances around pipelines mainly result in soil compaction, and therefore methods to reduce compaction (mechanical or biological) should be used in these situations. The removal of polluted or contaminated soils followed by replacement with suitable soil materials is commonly done in situations involving oil, produced waters, and emulsion (oil + produced waters) spills. Here, and in coal mineland reclamation, soils need to be essentially rebuilt to support plant growth. In all cases, the physical, biological, and chemical properties need to be considered for successful reclamation of all highly disturbed soils. The objectives of this project are to: 1) evaluate cropping sequences and tillage to reduce compaction in soils as a result of the installation of a pipeline; 2) evaluate strategies for removing salts from and establishing plants in brine-impacted soils; and 3) evaluate soil function after thermal desorption. Through laboratory, greenhouse, growth chamber, and field-based studies the above objectives will be addressed. Research results will be forwarded to landowners, reclamation specialists, oil-gas-coal industry personnel, state government regulators, and students within a formal classroom settings so that information gleaned from this project can be used in a timely manner. Through the above actions the goals of this project (decrease the time to soil reclamation, the improvement of soil health, and provide guidelines to reclamation specialists) will be met.

Animal Health Component

70%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

30%

Applied

70%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
102	0199	2000	50%
103	0110	2000	50%

Knowledge Area
103 - Management of Saline and Sodic Soils and Salinity; 102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships;

Subject Of Investigation
0110 - Soil; 0199 - Soil and land, general;

Field Of Science
2000 - Chemistry;

Keywords

reclamation

compaction

brine

thermal desorption

remediation

Goals / Objectives
North Dakota has had an increase in the disturbance of soils as a result of energy development (e.g., installation of pipelines) and accidental releases (produced water and oil). Industry has been increasingly using pipelines to transport oil, natural gas, and oil-produced byproducts such as brine. Bringing soils back to productivity after these disturbances can be challenging, especially since the energy development is in a semi-arid climate. The major goal of this project is to improve the soil plant productivity potentials after major disturbances. Supporting goals are to decrease the time to soil reclamation, the improvement of soil health, and provide guidelines to reclamation specialists.

Project Methods
To meet the goals and objectives of this project, research will be conducted in the laboratory, greenhouse, growth chamber, and in the field. The methods used will be from published, peer-reviewed journals or developed specifically for this project. All soil and plant sampling will be done using standard techniques and all data will be analyzed in accordance with proper statistical procedures.

Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:The main target audiences for this project includes those interested in how the processes of soil reclamation impact plant productivity potential of those soils. The audience may include but not limited to farmers, ranchers, practicing professionals, and state and federal agencies. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project provided two workshop opportunities for training. Collectively, there were about 300 people in attendance at these workshops. In addition to these workshops, talks at conferences provided information about the projects. Peer-reviewed manuscripts have provided information to the scientific community and to practicing professionals. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been distributed via field days where participants have been farmers, land managers, reclamation specialists, government officials, and the general public. Additionally, results have been disseminated through conference presentations, and peer-reviewed publications. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The field-work for the cropping sequence study has been finished. An MS student is handling the day-to-day activities of the research needs. The second greenhouse project focusing on removing brine will be in the next reporting period. A student has been working on how different soil surface modifications will influence surface runoff and plant establishment, this work will continue during 2021. The evaluation of post-thermally desorbed soils is ongoing and peer-reviewed manuscripts will be submitted for this work.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The use of 100% topsoil as a plant-growth media is most desired. However, in some cases, there is not enough topsoil available to be replaced on-site. Our research has shown that mixing topsoil with a lesser-productive subsoil, or oil-contaminated soil can achieve the same plant productivity potential as 100% topsoil. In addition, the use of thermal desorption to remove hydrocarbons can also produce similar yields when topsoil is mixed with it. The removal of salt from soil is highly challenging, especially in semi-arid regions where there is not normally enough gravitational water to flush salts out of the plant-root zone. In a greenhouse study, the use of wicks proved to be effective in removing over 80% of brine-salts from the soil. The use of hemp and flax fabrics were shown to be effective wicks at removing salts from brine-contaminated soils. Deep tillage on compacted soils proved to increase plant productivity on both pipeline roadways and on soils of a coal-mineland reclamation. After five years, soil compaction is still pronounced on a pipeline roadway, which indicates that using just plants to alleviate this compaction may not be an effective strategy. The use of a super-absorbent polymer has shown to be effective in increasing plant-available water, especially in soils containing high concentrations of sand-sized particles. This result is significant in that sandy soils tend to provide less plant-available water to plants and if one can increase this water through the use of this low-cost polymer, reclamation efficiency should increase.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Croat, S.J., P.L. OBrien, C.K. Gasch, F.X.M. Casey, and T.M. DeSutter. 2020. Crop production on heavily disturbed soils following crude oil remediation. Agron. J. 112: 130-138.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Croat, S.J., S.J. Croat, T.M. DeSutter, F.X.M. Casey, and P.L. OBrien. 2020. Phosphorus sorption and desorption in soils treated by thermal desorption. Wat. Soil Air Pollut. 231: 216-224.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: DeSutter, T.M., M. Breker, A. Chatterjee, P.L. OBrien, and A. Wick. 2020. Influences of soil amendments on alfalfa production and soil properties. Crop For. Turf. Mang. DOI: 10.1002/cft2.20043
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Green, A., T. DeSutter, M. Meehan, and A. Daigh. 2020. The remediation of brine-impacted soils and the impact of brine on soil physical, chemical, and biological properties: A review. Agro. Geosci. Env. https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20042
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Green, A., M. Meehan, and T. DeSutter. 2020. Seed Germination of selected crop and graminoid species in response to treatment within NaCl and oil-field brine solutions. Can. J. Plant Sci. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2019-0261
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kruger, M., S. Sigdel, C. Gasch, T. DeSutter, J. Harmon, and A. Chatterjee. 2020. Soil carbon dioxide efflux from amended saline and thermally desorbed oil-contaminated subsoil. Agro. Geosci. Env. DOI: 10.1002/agg2.20100
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ostrand, M.S., T.M. DeSutter, A.L.M. Daigh, R.F. Limb, D.D. Steele. 2020. Superabsorbent polymer characteristics, properties, and applications. Agro. Geosci. Env. DOI: 10.1002/agg2.20074
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Bartsch, Z., T. DeSutter, and C. Gasch. 2020. Microbial recovery in soils treated by ex-situ thermal desorption and mixing after crude oil spill in western North Dakota. Manitoba Soil Science Society Annual Meeting. Winnipeg, MB. February 6-7.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Birkhimer, N., T. DeSutter, J. Bergman, K. Horsager, K. Dragseth, M. Ramsey, and C. Wahlstrom. 2020. Response of root biomass on pipeline disturbed cropland to different cropping sequences in western North Dakota. Manitoba Soil Science Society Annual Meeting. Winnipeg, MB. February 6-7.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: DeSutter, T. 2020. Research results from a five-year oil spill study: The secret hope of everyone! 2020. Manitoba Soil Science Society Annual Meeting. Winnipeg, MB. February 6-7.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: DeSutter, T. 2020. Current and Potential Remediation Strategies for Brine Spills. Keynote Address for the North Dakota Reclamation Conference. Dickinson, ND February 25-26.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: DeSutter, T., P. OBrien, S. Croat, C. Gasch, F. Casey, and A. Wick. 2020. Soil recommendations after the largest oil spill in US History-The Tioga Experience. Presented at the Soil and Soil/Water Workshop sponsored by the NDSU Research and Extension. Fargo, ND, January 22.

Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:The main target audiences for this project includes those interested in how the processes of soil reclamation impact plant productivity potential of those soils. The audience may include but not limited to farmers, ranchers, practicing professionals, and state and federal agencies. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project provided two in-field opportunities for training. Collectively, there were about 100 people in attendance at these field days.Research accomplishments, along with hands-on demonstrations were provided to the audiences. In addition to field days, numerous talks at conferences provided information about the projects. Peer-reviewed manuscripts have provided information to the scientific community and to practicing professionals. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been distributed via field days where participants have been farmers, land managers, reclamation specialists, government officials, and the general public. Additionally, results have been disseminated through conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications, and through newspaper and broadcast interviews. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The cropping sequence study will continue for the next few years. An MS student has been put on the project and is handling the day-to-day activities of the research needs. The student will disseminate information at two conferences and a field day. The finished MS thesis on the strategies for removing salts and establishing plants in brine-impacted soils will be on the next reporting period. The student's work will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals. The evaluation of post-thermally desorbed soils is ongoing and peer-reviewed manuscripts will be submitted for this work.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The use of 100% topsoil as a plant-growth media is most desired. However, in some cases, there is not enough topsoil available to be replaced on-site. Our research has shown that mixing topsoil with a lesser-productive subsoil can achieve the same plant productivity potential as 100% topsoil. The removal of salt from soil is highly challenging, especially in semi-arid regions where there is not normally enough gravitational water to flush salts out of the plant-root zone. In a greenhouse study, the use of wicks proved to be effect in removing over 80% of brine-salts from the soil. This work is further being explored through the use of hemp fabric as the wicking material. Deep tillage on compacted soils proved to increase plant productivity on both pipeline roadways and on soils of a coal-mineland reclamation. These studies will continue to be monitored. The use of a super-absorbent polymer has shown to be effective in increasing plant-available water, especially in soils containing high concentrations of sand-sized particles. This result is significant in that sandy soils tend to provide less plant-available water to plants and if one can increase this water through the use of this low-cost polymer, reclamation efficiency should increase.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: OBrien, P.L., T.M. DeSutter, F.X.M. Casey, E. Khan, and A.F. Wick. 2018. Thermal remediation alters soil properties: A review. J. Environ. Mngt. 206: 826-835.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: OBrien, P.L., T.M. DeSutter, F.X.M. Casey, A.L.M. Daigh, J.L. Heitman, N.E. Derby, and E. Khan. 2018. Daytime surface energy fluxes over soil material remediated using thermal desorption. Agrosyst. Geosci. Environ. 1:180027.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: OBrien, P.L., U. Acharya, R. Alghamdi, A.R. Niaghi, D. Sanyal, J. Wirtz, A.L.M. Daigh, and T.M. DeSutter. 2018. Hydromulch application to bare soil: Soil temperature dyanamics and evaporative fluxes. Agric. Env. Lett. doi:10.2134/ael2018.03.0014
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: OBrien, P.L., T.M. DeSutter, and F.X.M. Casey. 2019. Natural degradation of low-level petroleum hydrocarbon contamination under crop management. J. Soils Sed. 19:1367-1373.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Green, A.W., T.M. DeSutter, A.L.M. Daigh, and M.A. Meehan. 2019. Wicking salts from brine-contaminated soils: A potential method for in situ remediation. Agric. Environ. Lett. 4:180069
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Croat, S., DeSutter, T., O'Brien, P., Gasch, C., Casey, F., Wick, A., Stuffert, S. 2019. International Meetings of the SSSA. Thermally-Desorbed Soil As a Potential Replacement for Topsoil: A Summary of Research Results. SSSA, Oral Presentation, San Diego, CA.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Green, A. W., Meehan, M., DeSutter, T. 2019. Society for Range Management Annual Meeting, Germination Thresholds of Grass and Crop Species in Response to NaCl and Brine Induced Salinity. Society for Range Management, Poster, Minneapolis, MN.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: DeSutter, T. 2019. The 2013 Black Slough pipeline release in Mountrail County, North Dakota: A summary of research results. Presented at the 7th Annual ND Reclamation Conference, Dickinson, ND, February 25-26.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ostrand, M., T. DeSutter, and A. Daigh. 2019. Super Absorbent Polymer effects on Soil Physical Properties as Functions of Application Rate and Soil Texture. Manitoba Soil Science Society Annual Meeting. Winnipeg, MB. February 7-9.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Green, A. W., Meehan, M., DeSutter, T, and A. Daigh. 2019. Wicking salts from brine contaminated soils: Potential method for in-situ remediation. Presented at the International Meetings of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA. San Diego, CA. January 6-9.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Croat, S., T. DeSutter, P. OBrien, F. Casey, and C. Gasch. 2019. The 2013 Black Slough Pipeline Release in Mountrail County, ND: A Summary of Research. Presented at the Soil and Water Summit & Field Trip, Medora, North Dakota. September 18-19.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ostrand, M., T. DeSutter, and A. Daigh. 2019. Super Absorbent Polymer effects on Soil Physical Properties as Functions of Application Rate and Soil Texture. Presented at the 2019 National Meeting of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation, Big Sky, MT. Welcome Back to Montana: The Land of Reclamation Pioneers, June 37, 2019.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: DeSutter, T., P. OBrien, S. Croat, C. Gasch, F. Casey, and A. Wick. Soil reclamation after a Bakken crude pipeline release: A summary of research results. Presented at the 2019 National Meeting of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation, Big Sky, MT. Welcome Back to Montana: The Land of Reclamation Pioneers, June 37, 2019.