Agreed^. In fact, the very fact you smelled kerosene indicates it is not "broken down". There's a reason oil spills are considered disasters, and even though your "oil spill" is small and somewhat contained, the problem really started for you when you had the idea of trying to burn out an essentially green stump. How was that ever going to work?

+oM

Well, the stump decomposer said "over time" it would break down the wood and make the stump porous so that it could absorb the Kerosene for burning. I guess "over time" was used ambiguously as a marketing ploy, which I obviously fell for.

The question now is whether or not there is enough Kerosene in those chips, and now soil combo due to the grinding, that I should throw it out. Or, is there so little that I should leave it in a pile, and it will breakdown naturally and become so diluted that it will fine.???

I suppose almost everything (except used condoms and tomato seeds apparently) break down eventually. I would not use that material in my own doings. The condoms/tomato seeds reference is courtesy of folks who operate sewage treatment plants, those being two items not broken down in the process!

+oM

Would you literally scoop it up and throw it away, or let it sit for awhile somewhere with no planting in the near future in mind?

You are in a position governed by your conscience, EPA regulations and any state and local regulations. A single gallon of kerosene is a very small amount - probably 1000 times that amount is spilled in the form of gasoline by careless lawn mower fillers every second or so. So, i don't think I would call the authorities to report the spill even if the letter of the law required me to do so. I'd get rid of the chips which have apparently absorbed some of the kerosene but not the soil. Keep a watch on the crepe myrtle and see how it does. Very likely it will do fine.

Thank you for the reply. I guess technically the soil doesn't have the Kerosene, but since the stump was grinded out, the VERY small pieces of wood have the Kerosene in them, which is what makes it part of the soil, in my mind. I guess I could rake up and discard the larger chips, and leave the small, soil-blended grindings.

Incidentally, the crape is a beautiful Red Rocket with quite the vase shape, and it was the last of its kind available in my area, which is why I am so concerned.

Last fall I had my gardener fell a 40 ft. , 23 yr. old Silver Maple on
my residential property. He also rented a stump grinder, and after 3
hours was only able to grind the stump down to below level.

I would have stopped right there, made a small or large bed incorporating the stump, spread some wood chips or bark mulch, maybe planted a few grasses or perennials, and put a bird bath right over the center of the stump. Change the water year round, and in about 3-5 years that baby would have rotted out to a crumbly mass. Oh, and planted the crepe myrtle (or whatever) next to the stump.

WAY too much fuss, with the kerosene and burning and grinding and screening! Over time the root system of this tree (23 years is not an old tree), would decompose and provide valuable organic matter that holds moisture and nourishes soil life.

ETA: I did not mean to kudos my own post! How is that even possible?

Oh and I have no idea what to do with the kerosene mulch, but didn't they used to use stuff like motor oil or kerosene as weed killers, and also use it to oil down dirt roads so they aren't dusty?

Edited later to add - didn't mean to say that using kerosene for things like this was a good idea! Maybe you could mix the kerosene wood chips in a large pile with leaves or other organic matter and let them biodegrade?

Terrene, thank you for replying, but I don't think I asked for opinions about what I SHOULD have done. But, since you brought it up, there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY anyone would have been able to plant ANYTHING next to that stump, because as I mentioned above, there was way too much of a Maple "table" just below ground level. As to the "fuss" of removing that stump, if I would have wanted to wait 5 years, I would have, but obviously I didn't. ;-)

Terrene, I guess our last messages must have crossed each other. Thank you for your second post, as it was both relevant to the topic and thought-provoking. ;-)

BIOREMEDIATE your soil!

Paul Stamets - Bioremediation with Fungi

"In
1975, a military jet fuel leaked over 80,000 gallons of kerosene based
jet-fuel into a lake in the suburbs of Charleston, SC. Many people tried
to manage the oil spill but it was to no avail. It was almost
impossible to stop all of the fuel from being soaked up by the very
permeable sandy soil and reaching the ground water. Soon all of the
ground water became contaminated and had many toxic chemicals in it. The
ground water then began to reach all of the residential area and
everyone in the surrounding area knew they were faced with a serious
environmental hazard. It was almost impossible to remove all of the
contaminated soil and ground water so the only other option was to introduce
microorganisms and fungi that could consume all of the toxic chemicals
and turn them into harmless carbon dioxide. Because of this introduction
of the microorganisms it allowed for any further contamination to come
to a complete halt. It even helped to remove 75% of the pollutants that
harmed the soil and ground water. This
introduction of microorganisms and fungi to an ecosystem or specific
area is known as Bioremediation. What is Bioremediation? Bioremediation
is a process in which indigenous or inoculated micro-organisms (e.g.,
fungi, bacteria, and other microbes) degrade (metabolize) organic
contaminants found in soil and/or ground water, converting them to
harmless end products. Nutrients, oxygen, or other amendments may be
used to enhance bioremediation and contaminant desorption from
subsurface materials. Bioremediation also allows polluted drinking water
to become safe enough for humans and animals to drink. It allows for us
[humans] to have a safer drinking source and not be too terribly
concerned with the toxins that could be potentially be harmful.
Bioremediation is usually classified under 2 types of conditions. Those
being aerobic and anaerobic..."

OK, I'll bite. It sounds similar to a nitrogen cycle in an aquarium. How do I remediate it, ie. where can I get the proper bacteria and fungi?

Write to Paul Stamets @ Fungi Perfecti. Paul is easily one of the top mycologists in the world, especially as regards utilization of fungi for just such situations. Blak, you must be a fan too, eh?

+oM