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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page overview of the use of microorganisms in oil spill cleanup. Includes a discussion of the evolution of bacteria and the characteristics which make them suitable for bio-remediation. Bibliography lists 10 sources.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_Biorem.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
Marine spills are often huge in scope, the oil slick which resulted from the American tanker spill off Huntington Beach California on February 7, 1990, for example, was approximately
five miles wide by fifteen miles long (Gellert et. al., 1994). This one spill was responsible for the deaths of four hundred and three waterfowl and countless numbers of
fish and other aquatic organisms (Gellert et. al., 1994). Additional wildlife, including four hundred and ninety-six live but oil-soaked waterfowl, were impacted as well (Gellert et. al., 1994).
An immediate and appropriate response in such spills is critical if any portion of the aquatic environment and its inhabitants are to be protected. The first priority in
such a catastrophe is containment of the spill so that it harms the least amount of habitat and organisms possible. The second priority is cleanup. In the past
cleanup activities have involved high tech equipment and high manpower. Methodologies for oil spill cleanup are now being enhanced with the utilization of what is termed "bioremediation".
Bioremediation, the use of biological organisms to clean up environmental consequences of man made pollution sources such as oil spills, is a relatively new field. This approach has numerous
advantages including low capital and operating cost and minimal equipment requirements (Zodrow. 1997). Typically in oil spills bioremediation employs the use of microorganisms which have the ability to consume
the contaminants of concern, converting it through their own metabolic processes into food and energy. Byproducts of this process do include some toxins but bioremediation projects are designed so
that the resulting byproducts are less toxic and potentially harmful than is the initial contaminant. In addition to toxic substances bioremediation leaves as its byproducts stable chemicals, water, carbon
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