Using Transgenic Plants on Military Lands: Soliciting Public Approval through Eco-Safety Experiments.

A SERDP project is developing transgenic plants to phytoremediate RDX and TNT.  These plants have a high potential to help clean up explosives at firing ranges and prevent pollution.  The plants are grasses naturalized in the Intermountain West region of the US and developed under a separate SERDP project to be more resilient to military training than the standard cultivars currently on the commercial market.  Once the transgenic plants are ready for release, regulatory approvals and sites for field testing will need to be developed.  Most transgenic plants approved for use today are food crops, principally the annuals corn and soybeans.  Regulatory approvals for food crops come from the USDA-ARS.  However, since these are conservation type plants we will also need to gain support from both the military and the general public.  Since there is no procedure to do this, we will need to contact those in the military that can approve the use of these plants on a demonstration basis.  The other issue is to find an experimental location.  Since one of the major issues with the use of these plants is pollen transfer, it is thought that demonstrations could be in an area outside of their naturalized habitat.  This would limit the transfer of pollen to other native plants.  One possible location would be a desert environment.  To facilitate their growth, the plan would most likely include soil amendments  and irrigation to modify the environment for plant growth.