Fast, Low-Cost Petroleum Spill Treatment

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After removal of USTs, ground water was treated over a one-half acre plume in Houston, Texas.  Petrox bioaugmentation was implemented by injection of 110 gallons of high concentration microbial solution in April 2006.  Post-treatment sampling shows the bioaugmentation significantly reduced the source area contaminant levels  at a cost of less than $2,000 for the Petrox®.

Sampling Date Benzene Toluene Ethylbenzene Total    Xylenes
Pre-  bioaugmentation 4/4/06 2,000 1,400 1,600 2,460
Post- bioaugmentation 8/9/06 350 240 470 69

All concentrations shown in µg/L.

LNAPL Removal with Petrox

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Site Summary

Petrox® bioaugmentation was implemented to remediate fuel spilled at a railway in at Central, Ohio.  The impacted soil in the source area was excavated for off-site disposal.  The fuel, however, percolated through the fill into underlying soil.  The fuel migrated through the soil, seeped to the surface and formed a sheen on the water of an adjacent pond.  The LNAPL was removed and no longer visible in the pond and ground water monitoring seeps in less than 90 days after one application of Petrox®.

Geology and Hydrogeology

The spill occurred on a railroad embankment that is adjacent to a pond. The fill of the embankment is 2 to 3 feet thick.  The fill is on top of sandy clay deposits.  The slope of the embankment is very steep and slopes down to the pond.  After the fuel began to appear on the surface water, sumps were installed near the base of the slope and perched ground water was encountered at a few feet deep in the sumps.  The remediation was based on a conceptual model for the fuel seepage and migration.  Under the conceptual model, the fuel percolated through the fill to the native silty clay soil.  Once in the native soil, the fuel migrated through fractures as an LNAPL and seeped from weeps in the hillside.

Contamination

In immediate response to the fuel spill, the impacted ballast and fill were excavated and disposed off site.  Residual fuel remained in the soil below the excavation.  A hydrocarbon sheen was observed on the surface of the adjoining surface water approximately one month after the spill.  Containment booms were placed on the surface water and sumps were installed in the adjoining slope.  The LNAPL on ground water was as much as 0.2 feet thick in the sumps. The assumed area of the LNAPL was approximately 1,500 square feet.

Remediation

Petrox® was applied by injecting one drum (55-gallons) of a concentrated solution into the fill in the excavation area.  The Petrox® was allowed to flush through the impacted soil and follow the migration path of the fuel.  As the weather became seasonally dry, additional water was added to the excavation to support the microbial growth and to flush the microbes into the soil fractures.  During remediation the LNAPL thicknesses were measured in the sumps.  After each measurement the LNAPL was bailed from the sumps.

Results

Following Petrox® bioaugmentation the LNAPL thickness appeared to increase in some locations.  However, in 90 days the LNAPL was no longer present in the sumps and a sheen was no longer observed on the surface water.  The following table shows representative LNAPL thickness measurements (in feet).

Sump Number Pre-Treatment 30 Days Post Treatment 60 Days Post Treatment 90 Days Post Treatment
1 0.04 0.06 No LNAPL No LNAPL
10 0.15 0.12 0.08 No LNAPL
11 0.13 0.08 0.07 No LNAPL
15 0.12 0.10 0.18 No LNAPL

 

The treatment was successful in reducing the residual environmental impact of the fuel spill.  The treatment also verified the effectiveness of Petrox® bioaugmentation for petroleum LNAPL situations. 

BTEX Remediation in Groundwater

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BTEX Bioremediation

This project demonstrates the rapid bioremediation of BTEX components of petroleum with Petrox bioaugmentation. BTEX contamination in groundwater from a leaking underground storage tank was cost-effectively treated with two applications of Petrox.

The pre-treatment concentrations of Toluene and Xylene were 1,198ppb and 2,408 ppb, respectively. Ten units of Petrox aerobic microbes were injected into the ground water on about June 2, 2002. Within six weeks the concentrations decreased to 515ppb and 690 ppb, Toluene and Xylene, respectively. After a second inoculation in August 2002, the concentrations decreased to 3.7ppb and 16.4 ppb, respectively. There has been a slight rebound in Xylene to 23.8 ppb, and a third inoculation will be implemented to finish the treatment.

The cost to treat this quarter acre plume with Petrox was about $20,000.

BTEXbio

Bioremediation of BTEX at an Industrial Site in Florida

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Background

Petrox® bioaugmentation was used to remediate ground water contaminated by benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) at an industrial facility in central Florida (Facility ID No. 8521705). The bioremediation was implemented in perimeter wells around the source area where air sparging and vapor extraction was implemented. This combined approach provided cost-effective, full-site remediation by using complementary technologies.

Remediation Approach and Results

Petrox® was introduced into the contaminated ground water in the perimeter of the source area plume by injection through temporary well points. Two applications of Petrox® were completed. The initial application was in December 2007 and a subsequent application was completed in April 2008. During each application 550 gallons of Petrox® microbial slurry were injected into the ground water through 19 injection points. The treatment covered an area of approximately 7,000 square feet.

The ground water treatment results were monitored by laboratory analysis of ground water samples for the contaminants of concern. The quarterly monitoring results after the applications showed an immediate and continuous decrease in the BTEX concentrations. The following chart shows the total BTEX concentrations in three quarterly sampling events after the implementation of Petrox® bioaugmentation.

industrial-site6

Conclusions

This project demonstrates two of the benefits of aerobic bioaugmentation. Petrox® organisms were able to metabolize the BTEX compounds, which were initially at part per million levels, to below detection limits. Bioaugmentation provides active control of the site with hydrocarbon-degrading organisms compatible with air sparging and vapor extraction in the source area, where the contaminant concentrations persisted longer than in the bioaugmentation area.

Petrox Bioremediation of Oil-Field Waste

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Petrox bioremediation of oil field wastes reduced concentrations in lagoon sludge fast.  Petrox is a specialty bioremediation product comprised of patented strains of live vegetative aerobic microorganisms providing fast, effective degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons.

The oil-field pit treatment demonstrates the effectiveness of Petrox to treat oil production wastes encountered during the closure of multiple lagoons in the Southeast. Regulations required oil and grease concentrations below 1% prior to closure. Petrox reduced the petroleum to compliance levels in less than 30 days.
OilFieldSouthE-bar

Pit #

Pit Size

Initial

Final

Treatment Days

1

45’x60’x5’

28.89%

 

0.97%

 

30

2

30’x30’x6’

 

9.48%

 

0.66%

 

20

3

30’x40’x4’

 

4.20%

 

0.71%

 

17

4

30’x30’x5’

 

3.10%

 

0.07%

 

30

5

90’100’x8’

 

1.38%

 

0.88%

 

25