T. Allan Comp

T. Allan Comp's "Litmus Garden" and the Vintondale Project (2001)




T. Allan Comp, a historian who works at the US Dept of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining, led the Vintondale Project, which was a restoration project of a polluted landscape in Pennsylvania. A collaborative group of artists, engineers, and scientists worked together to form bioremediation ponds that purify the water by removing pH and removing toxic metals. The Litmus Garden was a series of trees that lined the ponds, creating beautiful reflections during all seasons and giving the landscape a public park look.

Like Mel Chin's work, I believe that this work is closely tied to environmentalism as it, too, involves the removal of toxic metals from a landscape. Because this was a collaborative effort of many people, it gives an encouraging look on possible future projects in other polluted areas. I believe that Mel Chin and T. Allan Comp are to be commended for doing environmental work that actually interacts and betters the environment.