Preliminary Studies on Implications of Suburban Industrial Soil Contamination for Urban Ecology and Planning in Cartagena, SE Spain

Resumen

Urban life and quality require a high degree of interaction between urban planners and scientists. They need to focus their attention on the influence of soil, water, and air pollution upon urban ecology and planning.A former industrial area occurring in the eastern part of Cartagena city (Murcia province, SE Spain), has supported an important industrial activity in the last 50 years, which is now becoming a residential and services area. This area should be restored to minimize their potential impact on the environment and urban ecology. Therefore, there is a need to characterize the type and degree of pollutants.The soils studied are indeed contaminated, mainly by heavy metals such as Pb, Zn, but also As and salts. Remediation practices should consider in situ techniques to remove total or reduce the amount to an acceptable level. This should include a combination of soil treatments together with phytoremediation to solve the problems prior to the urbanization works.