Farmworker housing

 

post by Sam Smith, Portland, on phytomining:

"Phytomining is the process of cultivating specific crops that bio-accumulate valuable elements from soils, particularly metals. It can be used to bioremediate areas already disturbed by traditional mining operations. The plants are periodically harvested, burned for energy, and the minerals are extracted/smelted from the ash. Since mineral exploration is such a top priority for the Trump administration, I wondering if we could create a "mining" company, apply for year-long mineral exploration leases on public lands, and then just turn them into semi-permanent off-grid eco-villages, but call them "crew living quarters" for our "mining operation"..."

https://www.facebook.com/sam.smith.311/posts/10100114967725851

comment on this by Tmccormick:

 

"cool idea. Flipping the script, redefine mining" as extracting pollution. Where there are carbon taxes/credits to be had, perhaps carbon-sequestration schemes like planting or gasification or carbon-fixing concrete can follow this pattern too.  
   I have a nephew in high school who has an ongoing science research project about how sunflowers can remediate lead poisoning in soil, eg around older schools and housing and brownfields. Visuals on this are especially good - lead poison into sunflowers! 🌻
  Also I've heard that in many cases at least in California, rural land zoned agricultural/logging/ranching, as are apparently many unfarmed rural properties, recan add significantly more housing (worker housing)  if it shows around $80k of food revenue, which could be something small and specialized like hydroponics, herbs, honey from clover. Noted by friends who with me are envisioning an eco/maker village on theor 180 acres in northern California. (see: bit.ly/summit-station). 
  And legislation was just introduced in California state legislature by Scott Wiener to ease addition of farm-worker housing, details to come. #SB829 http://sd11.senate.ca.gov/news/20180104-senator-wiener-introduces-housing-first-legislative-package-continue-work-fix.