In 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency approved the use of these organisms for cleaning up polluted areas. A Mines lie buried in so many different environments that no single method can deal with them all. Researchers are therefore developing a variety of technologies. In some places, deminers may need to apply a combination of techniques, each based on a different physical principle, in order to reveal a minefield's secrets. Discovering how to use advanced data analysis to combine these disparate lines of information adds another layer of complexity to the challenge.
Some land mines create a shorter-term hazard than others.
The United States makes an effort to use only smart mines, says Bottoms. However, a country like China, which has a stockpile of 50 million conventional mines, probably won't replace them in the near future. At the upcoming conference, a representative from the U.S. Army has been invited to speak on the Army's efforts to find alternatives to antipersonnel land mines, Bottoms says. Molasses recruits bacteria for cleanup. Lipkin, R. 1996.