MOR AV I A N CO L L E G E

ProfeSSor
The first step was to scatter key “soil amendments” on the
slope: mushroom soil, fertilizers and lime. The second was to
seed the area with rugged “warm weather grasses” such as exist
on the difficult terrain of the great Prairie. These grasses grow
deep roots that hold soil better than the “cold weather” variety
that makes up most home lawns.
for comparison, the researchers used a 1975 study of the metal
content of the polluted soil and the prevalence of microorganisms
that existed in it.
The exacting process of collecting and testing new soil
samples was carried out by Armando villafane ’08 with a level
of competence that draws unqualified praise from his professor.
The results were encouraging. Whereas the earlier study showed
the level of zinc at 33,000 parts per million at the top of the
blue Mountain ridge, the new reading was 5,317 ppm. At the
same time, the number of microorganisms has modestly risen.
kuserk, who has served on the Moravian faculty for 30 years,
tempers the good news with empirical caution. “Some of the
reduction of metal supply in the soil is simply a matter of time,”
15.
Frank T. kUSerk
he said, adding that natural processes would have eroded some
of the pollution since the smelting operation shut down more
than three decades ago. And he notes that the “normal” zinc
presence is 650 ppm, leaving a big challenge still ahead. Still,
he said, the results mean the remedial process has helped.
during the period of the study, kuserk’s concentration on
aquatic systems has been growing. In pursuit of the other
“
prong” of the examination of the zinc smelting, he has been
surveying the ponds and streams of the gap area to catalog the
life within them. “nobody has studied this,” he said, “so I
basically spent the summer finding what kinds of things are here.”
Snailseed pond weed was one of the surprises.