Biostimulation for the treatment of an oil-contaminated coastal salt marsh.
A field study was conducted on a coastal salt marsh in Nova Scotia, Canada, during the summer of 2000. The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of biostimulation in restoring an oil-contaminated coastal marsh dominated by Spartina alterniflora under north-temperate conditions. Three remediation treatments were tested with two additional unoiled treatments, with and without added nutrients, serving as controls. This research determined the effectiveness of nitrogen and phosphorus addition for accelerating oil disappearance, the role of nutrients in enhancing restoration in the absence of wetland plants, and the rate at which the stressed salt marsh recovered. Petroleum hydrocarbons were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Statistically significant treatment differences were observed for alkanes but not aromatics in sediment samples. No differences were evident in above-ground vegetation samples. GC/MS-resolved alkanes and aromatics degraded substantially (>90% and >80%, respectively) after 20 weeks with no loss of TPH. Biodegradation was determined to be the main oil removal mechanism rather than physical washout.
Garcia-Blanco
Susana
S
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0071, USA.
Venosa
Albert D
AD
Suidan
Makram T
MT
Lee
Kenneth
K
Cobanli
Susan
S
Haines
John R
JR
D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D005648:Fuel Oils / Q000032:analysis*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis*; D007700:Kinetics; D009674:Nova Scotia; D006109:Poaceae / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D012623:Seawater; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*
D005648:Fuel Oils; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical