Bioremediation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in the Subsurface

Abstract

AbstractDue to human activity and, to a lesser extent, natural processes, petroleum hydrocarbons continue to pollute the environment. These contaminants of concern can be found globally and their remediation is key to restoring affected sites to safe and functional status. Conventional treatment of sites contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons relies heavily on remediation approaches that are often financially prohibitive or may be technically impractical and that sometimes produce undesirable by-products. Using microbes that occur in nature (if not always at the site), can be a viable treatment with distinct advantages. Understanding the environment, contaminants, and natural biological processes occurring are key aspects for effective application of remediation techniques that rely on biological processes. Whether by stimulating the native microbial community, or, secondarily, by augmenting the native community with known degrader populations to degrade the target compounds, bioremediation is a practical, effective, and sustainable natural solution to a wide array of contamination around the globe. This chapter explores approaches to bioremediation of both soil and groundwater contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons, describing how the approaches work and the benefits and challenges associated with them. It focuses on the use of aerobic and anaerobic microbial bioremediation, phytoremediation, and mycoremediation to address petroleum hydrocarbons.