###### Abstract  
Copper mining in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the mid-19 th century generated millions of tons of mining waste, called stamp sand, which was deposited into various offshoots of Lake Superior. The toxic stamp sand converted the area into barren, fallow land. Without a vegetative cover, stamp sand has been eroding into the lakes, adversely affecting aquatic life. Our objective was to perform a greenhouse study, to grow cold-tolerant oilseed crops amelina (_Camelina sativa_) and field pennycress (_Thlaspi arvense_) on stamp sand, for the dual purpose of biofuel production and providing a vegetative cover, thereby decreasing erosion. Camelina and field pennycress were grown on stamp sands in columns, using compost to supply nutrients. A greenhouse study in wooden panels was also done to evaluate the effectiveness of amelina in reducing erosion. Results show that amelina significantly reduced erosion and can also be used commercially for generating biodiesel. A 25-fold reduction in Cu content in the surface run-off was observed in the panels with amelina compared to those of the control. Stamp sand-grown amelina seeds contained 20% and 22.7% oil and protein respectively, and their fatty acid composition was similar to previous studies performed on uncontaminated soils.  
copper mining; marginal land; biofuel; amelina; field pennycress 202  
In order to restore the Torch Lake site, we examined the feasibility of growing cold-tolerant, native oilseed crops, camelina (_Camelina sativa_), and field pennycress (_Thluspi arvene_) on stamp sand. Our goal is to develop an inexpensive and sustainable method to establish a vegetative cover on the Torch Lake shores, to reduce stamp sand erosion and contaminant transport into the Torch Lake. The added benefit of using oilseed crops would be the production of biodiesel. In an earlier paper, we reported a lab incubation study, where we determined that the addition of compost to stamp sand improved its potential to support plant growth [8]. Our results showed that compost amendment resulted in a significant increase in the nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and organic matter (OM) content of stamp sand. Here, we report a greenhouse study carried out in two phases. In phase I, a six-month long column experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of plant cover on the fate and geochemical partitioning of Cu. Stamp sand was amended with compost at four different rates, and camelina and field pennycress pants were grown in columns for 6 months. On the basis of phase I results, a phase II study was conducted for six months using larger wooden panels to measure copper loss by leaching and surface runoff. A panel containing stamp sand, planted with camelina was compared to that of an unplanted panel. In addition to measuring Cu uptake and loss, yield and quality of oil extracted from camelina seeds grown in stamp sand was measured. The objectives of the study are:  
1. To evaluate the effect of compost and plant cover on the fate and geochemical partitioning of Cu.
2. To measure the effect of compost and plant cover on erosion of stamp sand.
3. To assess the quality of the oil extracted from the seeds of camelina grown on contaminated stamp sand.