Marina Dock Age

Right now the focus in the Gulf of Mexico is on permanently stopping the leaking oil. Once that is accomplished, the focus will turn to cleaning up the massive amounts of oil in the Gulf. When that time comes, bioremediation may be a common method for cleanup.

Bioremediation is a process by which bacteria eat hydrocarbons like oil, thereby cleaning up a contaminated site. These bacteria then turn that oil into carbon dioxide, which is considered a non-harmful gas by EPA, and water. Many companies offer bioremedial products to clean up oil spills.

One such company is Envirologic Biobased Technologies Inc. Envirologic has three products that are already being used in the Gulf for cleanup and may be more widely used once the focus turns to cleaning up the oil.

Oil eating products

One Envirologic product that’s already being used is NavalKleen. This product is used to clean equipment on the water like skimming equipment and boat hulls. It is sprayed on this equipment to keep any oil from being transported into marinas and other parts of the Gulf.

Another product is FleetKleen, which is used to clean equipment on land like oil booms. Like NavalKleen, FleetKleen uses naturally occurring bacteria, which attaches to the oil and eats the hydrocarbons.

Finally, Liquid Remediac is another bioremedial product, and it is being used in the Gulf to clean up marshes, beaches and other wildlife areas that have oil in them.

Bioremedial products usually come in drums or tanks because large quantities of these products are needed.

Preparing for the cleanup

Since BP has been able to put a temporary cap on the well stopping oil from spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, regulators are preparing for the massive cleanup effort. That’s why the Fla. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has invited companies like Envirologic to a field test for biotreatments of beach sand that’s contaminated with weathered crude oil in Pensacola, Fla. The purpose of this field test is to determine what products work well and could be used in the long cleanup process.

Rob Preston is managing editor of Marina Dock Age magazine. He can be reached by phone at 847/647-2900 or via e-mail at rpreston@prestonpub.com.