Central Queensland has a team of 'wise champions' according to visiting American environmental engineer Dr Steven McCutcheon.

"In the world of phytoremediation of contaminated soils, you have three champions" he said.

"First you have a champion scientist, CQU's Ashwath Nanjappa, who is leading a team of researchers selecting the right vegetation; you have Richard Yeates, a man with a passion for the environment who is driving the issue and Mayor, Margaret Strelow, who is your local champion, committing time and money to ensure an environmentally secure future for Central Queenslanders.".

Phytoremediation is a process whereby selected trees, shrubs and grasses are planted on contaminated sites such as landfills to draw and dissipate water before it leaches into waterways.

Under the guidance of Dr Ashwath, post doctoral fellow Dr Nina Pangahas is testing 21 plant species and collecting a variety of data such as water movement in the soil, water transport into the canopy and accumulation of chemicals in the foliage, with the view to model and evaluate the efficiency of phytoremediation over clay capping.

Richard Yeates became instrumental in driving this research when he was introduced to Dr Ashwath by his friend, Tony Gubbins, on a visit to Rockhampton last year. " We started out in Rockhampton and now have sites not only in Queensland but also in South Australia with the Adelaide City Council conducting trials," Mr Yeates said. "After all, phytoremediation is basic common sense.".

Dr McCutcheon, who is with the US Environmental Protection Agency, was in Rockhampton to deliver a lecture about the promising and cost-effective technology and held talks with the Rockhampton City Council focussing on the Lakes Creek Road landfill site where trials have been going on for about nine months with great success.

Photo: Champions of phytoremediation include Richard Yeates, Dr Nanjappa Aswath and Dr Steven McCutcheon.