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The Apple Bites Back: Claiming Old Orchards for Residential Development Ernie Hood Abstract
With the demand for housing sites, more and more former agricultural lands are being converted to residential uses. These lands may contain pesticides and other chemicals ; former orchards in particular often carry a legacy of lead and arsenic contamination from the days when arsenical pesticides were heavily applied as the treatment of choice for protecting fruit trees against insect damage. The potential risk posed to human health by these historic orchard lands is a complex issue, fraught with scientific uncertainties and competing interests. The success of pesticide-contaminated soil remediation varies widely by method, and the cost can be high. Moreover, with a few notable exceptions, it appears that living on historic orchard site usually does not pose an immediate danger to human health. The question remains, then, whether it is necessary to invest huge amounts of money, often at taxpayer expense, in cleaning up these areas.
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