Gulf Oil Spill: Solution Restores Environment in Just Six Weeks: known as Bioremediation

MORE BIOREMEDIATION INFO CLICK HERE reuploaded from Federaljacktube http://www.youtube.com/user/Federaljacktube

Quote from Sciencemag.org

They (oil workers) have a potential ally: microbes that have evolved an ability to break down oil that seeps from the ocean bottom. It gets devoured by a variety of bacteria, which eat it by chemically transforming its compounds into useful cellular constituents. "If it wasn't for the natural ability of bacteria to eat oil we would all be knee-deep in the stuff," says bioremediation expert Ken Lee of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Nova Scotia, Canada.

So could bugs help cleanse the gulf? A number of companies have tried to create bacteria that could break down oil on demand, but Lee and colleague Albert Venosa of the Environmental Protection Agency say that experiments have shown that novel bacteria, even if they show promise in the lab, cannot compete with bacteria already living on beaches and marshes. Experiments have shown that adding nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to the beaches can speed up the ability of natural bacteria to break down oil. "What would've taken 5 or 6 years to accomplish can occur in a single summer," says Lee.

While adding such fertilizers has worked in small scale coastal experiments in which oil was purposefully spread on wetlands, experts don't know of examples from an actual spill. The challenge with wetland marshes is that the toxicity of the oil can kill plants before the microbes have a chance to get to work on the oil. "If that happens, you can lose the whole marsh," Lee says.

full story http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/04/can-microbes-save-the-gulf-...

In other EPA documentation they say:

Why use bioremediation?
EPA uses bioremediation because it takes advantage of natural processes. Polluted soil and groundwater can be cleaned at the site without having to move them somewhere else. If the right conditions exist or can be created underground, soil and groundwater can be cleaned without having to dig or pump it up at all. This allows cleanup workers to avoid contact with polluted soil and groundwater. It also prevents the release of harmful gases into the air. Because microbes change the harmful chemicals into water and harmless gases, few if any wastes are created.
Often bioremediation does not require as much equipment or labor as most other methods. Therefore, it is usually cheaper. Bioremediation has successfully cleaned up many polluted sites and is being used at 50 Superfund sites across the country. reference: http://www.epa.gov/swertio1/download/citizens/bioremediation.pdf

F.A.Q. from a manufacturer Microsorb (I'm not associated with them in any way)
http://www.microsorb.com/faq.html

More relevant links
http://water.usgs.gov/wid/html/bioremed.html
http://photoscience.la.asu.edu/photosyn/courses/BIO_343/lecture/bioremed.html
http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/
http://ei.cornell.edu/biodeg/bioremed/
http://www.adbio.com/site_maps/bioremediation.htm

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• gulf
• of
• mexico
• bp
• oil
• spill
• federaljack
• federaljacktube
• microbes
• deepwater
• horizon

[RigorMortisRabbit]

question, how much of these microbs would u need? + how much would all that cost? so... if its not to much of an astronomical sum than would it not be possible to have a big fund raiser campain n' just use ur own boats and solve this mess ourselves?

[Frenchdayz]

This was a good idea a few decades ago, its common knowledge among those who study the environment. The government knows of the uses of PRP etc.

[MsSnogeese]

@cyberzook

This is a good idea!

[MsSnogeese]

irishamrep - it's folks like you who spread negative energy, untruths - all which are NONPRODUCTIVE! You have NO basis for your allegations. You're an opportunist who has been misinformed and who thrives on sensationalism. Educate yourself before you go hurling garbage.

[irishamrep]

Obama and his administration has stopped every workable clean up sincen this began. This is a fact!

Google....Billy Nungesser watch him here on youtube...They know why....... obama wants the southern states crippled, dependent and destroyed!

[cyberzook]

why don't you contact the celebrities that are activists, they would most certainly get the word out. Woody Harrelson is a start, Leonardo DiCaprio is another. There are tons of them and they have power of the people and money behind them.

[chrisruddchiro]

Could it be that swine flu and vaccines have not killed off enough of our overpopulated planet and this is just another chance ?

Nature provides antidotes; for every nettle there is a dock leaf.

Straw DOES work to clean up oil. so why the reluctance to use the solutions ?

Am I being cynical in my old age ? (kindly replies only please.)

[neorade]

Seems odd they wouldn’t already be using it! If this stuff really works that is.