Efficacy of commercial inocula in enhancing biodegradation of weathered crude oil contaminating a Prince William sound beach
In a laboratory study evaluating the effectiveness of 10 commercial products in stimulating enhanced biodegradation of Alaska North Slope crude oil, two of the products provided significantly greater alkane degradation in closed flasks than indigenous Alaskan bacterial populations supplied only with excess nutrients. These two products, which were microbial in nature, were then taken to a Prince William Sound beach to determine if similar enhancements were achievable in the field. A randomized complete block experiment was designed in which four small plots consisting of a no-nutrient control, a mineral nutrient plot, and two plots receiving mineral nutrients plus the two products were laid out in random order on a beach in Prince William Sound that had been contaminated 16 months earlier from the Exxon Valdez spill. These four plots comprised a 'block' of treatments, each block being replicated four times on the same beach. Triplicate samples of beach sediment were collected at four time intervals and analyzed for oil residue weight and alkane hydrocarbon profile changes. The results indicated no significant differences among the four treatments in the 27-day time period of the experiment.
- Research Organization:
- Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH (United States). Risk Reduction Engineering Lab.
- OSTI ID:
- 5752996
- Report Number(s):
- PB-94-101714/XAB; EPA--600/J-93/420
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Bioremediation of oil contaminated beach material in Prince William Sound, Alaska
Enhancement of biodegradation of Alaskan weathered crude oil components by indigenous microbiota with the use of fertilizers and nutrients
Related Subjects
020900* -- Petroleum-- Environmental Aspects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540250 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (1990-)
540350 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (1990-)
550700 -- Microbiology
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ALASKA
ARCTIC OCEAN
BACTERIA
BAYS
BEAUFORT SEA
BIOCONVERSION
BIODEGRADATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COASTAL WATERS
COMMERCIAL SECTOR
CONTAMINATION
CONTROL
DATA
DECOMPOSITION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ENERGY SOURCES
FERTILIZERS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
INFORMATION
INOCULATION
MICROORGANISMS
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
NUTRIENTS
OIL SPILLS
OPTIMAL CONTROL
PETROLEUM
POLLUTION
PRUDHOE BAY
RANDOMNESS
REMEDIAL ACTION
SAMPLING
SEAS
SEDIMENTS
STATISTICAL DATA
SURFACE WATERS
USA
WATER POLLUTION