In-situ bioremediation of shallow surface hydrocarbon contamination

Oil fields often have shallow, surface contamination by crude. In-situ biormediation is a proven, low cost method for treatment.

When handling gasoline, diesel, oil, or any other fuel, spills onto surrounding concrete and soils occasionally occur. In such spills, contamination is usually within a few inches of the surface and is an ideal candidate for immediate, in-situ bioremediation. Why pursue in-situ bioremedation?

• Less expensive than manual excavation and sending to landfill
• Lower risks but treating the wastes on site - no long term RCRA landfill liability
• Minimal disturbance to the work site - the bacteria work while the site returns to normal operation
• Can be implemented immediately after a spill minimizing risk of pollution moving outside the initial spill area

For small spills on the surface - in-situ bioremediation can be done using the following:

• Determine how much product was lost and the surface area contaminated.
• If there is no immediate risk of the product moving off-site into streams, rivers, or groundwater then it is ideal for in-situ treatment.
• While natural attenuation is a potential solution, I believe the most rapid bioremediation approach is best and with the lowest risk
• In the case of fuel spills we add a liquid nutrient blend to ensure sufficient nitrogen and phosphorus for maximum bacterial growth.
• To further enhance degradation rates, I recommend using a combination biosurfactant, biostimulant, and biosurfactant producing/hydrocarbon degrading microbial seed culture - applied immediately after the nitrogen/phosphorus application. Aster Bio manufactures several blends for remediation based on our core biosurfactant/microbial AB Petrozyme Blend
• We calculate the nutrient, biosurfactant, and microbe dose based upon amount and type of contamination. In small spills and to clean contaminated concrete - we use a nutrient, bacteria, and biosurfactant blend applied with a pressurized sprayer. This will immediately eliminate flammability hazards by encapsulating hydrocarbons including VOCs. Remediation time usually returns to background withing 21 - 40 days depending upon hydrocarbon type and ambient temperatures.

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