Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Debris Processing

Abstract

The disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico brings to mind an emergency operation that John Hogan and I threw together to process the oily debris generated by a spill and the resulting cleanup of no. 4 heating oil at Rutgers University in 1983. The oily debris included soil, woody fragments, vegetation, spent absorbent booms and oleophilic scrub pads, rags, gloves, plastic bags, etc. The directive of the regulatory authority was to bury the debris in a landfill—a conventional but singularly inappropriate (and expensive) measure. Petroleum waste would long persist under the anaerobic conditions of a landfill, with its ultimate fate uncertain. Our alternative suggestion was to exploit naturally occurring microbes in aerobically composting the material. The suggestion was accepted and proved simple to do and successful. Only after the massive 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaskan waters did we think of submitting a letter outlining our small-scale experience (Alaskan Oil Spill. ASM News, 1990, 56:62; available online).