Is it safe to garden beneath power lines?

[many a good man]

I live in a TH with a shady, postage-stamp sized yard. There is power company right-of-way a short walk away where some people have vegetable gardens. Should I be worried about EMR? PCBs? Would you garden there if it was your only option?

[Kolesar]

1. The electromagnetic fields are not a health risk

I work in that field.

If the area is brushy, the power company may have been spraying compounds to inhibit the growth of woody plants and trees. Perhaps if there are gardens there, the power line company would have had a "no spray" policy. Ask the gardeners, ask the power company, or maybe have the soil tested.

[many a good man]

3. Thanks!

I'm pretty sure they never spray there so it should be safe. The power lines are between our community and our swimming pool and tennis/bball courts. I think the landscapers who mow our common areas also mow by the power lines once or twice a month.

Another question! There is a small creek close to the garden area (much closer than my spigot!). It runs all the time, but it also gets water from off the streets during rain storms. One of the gardeners uses it to water his garden. Do you think this is OK, too?

I last had a garden about fifteen years ago, near a bunch of greenhouses in Rock Creek. I loved it and got pretty good at it. Organic all the way! I'll stake out a claim this fall and get it ready for the Spring. Last time I was very successful using raised bed gardening. The first year was a pain but I think its the greatest for reducing maintenance.

[Kolesar]

5. If you scoop up a bucket of stream water, does the surface look oily?

That would be a little bit off putting.

I don't know how to advise you absolutely. Where I live, I am concerned about streams in neighborhoods that have bad septic systems. In that case, one could get the county health department to test the stream water for bacteria. Perhaps they would check for oil, salts, or heavy metals.

I had my well tested by "some lab in Michigan" in 1995. I sent them a sample and they tested for coliform bacteria, heavy metals, and other "bad stuff" (organic compounds?).

If you get the county health department involved, they might locate point sources of pollution and order people upstream to put in new septic systems or commercial pollution equipment. That would be good for the environment.

One treatment might be to dam the stream upstream and create an artifical wetland where pollutants will be trapped by the new plants. Go drop some logs across the stream and transplant some wetlands plants, I suppose.
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We discovered raised bed gardening four years ago through Ed Smith's "vegetable gardener's bible" and it changed everything. Our yields went up and the work went down.

[conscious evolution]

6. Thanks for the tips

We are dealing with the same issue at the Land Trust behind my house in Atlanta.

We have a storm drain overflow line dumping storm runoff from the street into a couple of small ponds on the LT property.

BTW,to the OP:Powerlines should pose no problem unless they break and fall on your head.

[madeline_con]

2. Resist the temptation to hold garden tools too high.

;)

[many a good man]

4. Sage advice!

That is one of the best gardening tips I ever got!

These are major power lines, however. The closest one is about 25 feet off the ground!