Fate of petroleum hydrocarbons in beach sand. Final report, May 1, 1971-May 1, 1972

Technical Report · Mon May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1972

OSTI ID:6580827

Guard, H E; Cobet, A

The fate of the petroleum hydrocarbons from Chevron bunker fuel has been studied in natural beaches, sand-containing lysimeters, and laboratory experiments. The importance of various physical, chemical, and biological processes for the dispersal and degradation of spilled bunker fuel has been evaluated. Studies at four sampling locations on three beaches in the San Francisco area affected by oil from an 840,000 gal spill of Chevron bunker fuel have shown that the size of the bacterial population and distribution of bacterial genera within the beach was unaffected by the petroleum hydrocarbons remaining in the beach sand after completion of the cleanup operation. Laboratory experiments indicated that the lower molecular weight components of bunker fuel dispersed in a beach will be removed by evaporation, dissolution, and biodegration acting in concert. The importance of bacterial degradation of the oil entrained within a beach has been studied using lysimeters implanted in a beach to control erosion.

• Research Organization: Naval Biomedical Research Lab., Oakland, CA (USA); Coast Guard Research and Development Center, Groton, CT (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6580827
• Report Number(s): AD-786582
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020900* -- Petroleum-- Environmental Aspects
510500 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
BACTERIA
BIODEGRADATION
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CONTAMINATION
DECOMPOSITION
DISSOLUTION
ENERGY SOURCES
EVAPORATION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL OILS
FUELS
HYDROCARBONS
LIQUID FUELS
MICROORGANISMS
OIL SPILLS
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PACIFIC OCEAN
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
REMOVAL
RESIDUAL FUELS
SAMPLING
SAN FRANCISCO BAY
SAND
SEAS
SHORES
SURFACE WATERS