Written By Steve Henshaw, P.G., President & CEO of EnviroForensics
As seen in the August 2009 issue of Western Cleaner & Launderer
For years, environmental scientists and engineers have been promoting the notion of using microorganisms to degrade chlorinated volatile organic compounds (e.g. Perc and associated breakdown products) and petroleum hydrocarbons (e.g. gas, diesel, oil, etc.) This technology falls under a general term called bio-remediation. One may recall video of the Valdez oil spill in Alaska, when cleanup crews sprayed microorganisms onto the oil laden shoreline. The idea was that the microorganisms would literally consume the oil as their food source. This same phenomenon has been observed in aquifers contaminated with gasoline and oil, whereby the leading edge of the contamination plume is often consumed by naturally occurring microorganisms, while the center of the contamination plume does not have sufficient oxygen for the microorganisms to grow. The breakdown of petroleum hydrocarbons can be summed up as needing an oxygen rich environment, also known as an aerobic environment, where oxygen is needed to aid in the consumption of the petroleum hydrocarbons. The result is that gasoline and diesel contaminated plumes are relatively small in length. As the concentration of gasoline and diesel compounds decrease from the source area, the amount of oxygen increases and the bugs population, in turn, adjusts to the lower concentration food source. Continue reading “In Situ Bio-Remediation of Perc From Syrup to Cheese Whey”