The Bioremediation of Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soils Project is managed and implemented under the auspices of the JCCES. Initiated in 1996, the overall objective of the project is to identify and develop advances in the area of bioremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated soils. The goal is to deploy bioremediation technologies in the U.S. for application within the DOE complex. For this project, the approach has been to conduct a full-scale remediation demonstration targeting petroleum contaminated soil using as a “test bed” the Czechowice Oil Refinery to develop further innovative remediation technologies. This collaboration provides the basis for international technology transfer of new and innovative remediation technologies that can be applied at sites throughout the DOE complex, Poland, and Central/Eastern Europe. The partnership not only includes the use of a Polish refinery as the demonstration site, but also shared responsibilities by the IETU and FSU for fiscal, construction and engineering management of the project.

The refinery, located in southern Poland, is approximately 100 years old and was originally constructed by the Vacuum Oil Company (a forerunner of Standard Oil). The waste stream from the refinery process (a thick, viscous semi-liquid) was emptied into a series of lagoons, which contained several million gallons of this heterogeneous waste product. As a result of the refining process, the sludge was relatively acidic, further complicating remediation. While there was no current drive to clean up these lagoons, the newly privatized refinery management recognized the eventual need for remediation and offered to be a partner in the technology demonstration project.

A treatability study of the material to be remediated was completed by IETU in cooperation with scientists from the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC). This study documented the physical and chemical parameters necessary to maintain, stimulate, and activate a microbial community that could sustain a high biodegradation rate of the contaminants, even at low soil pH. The treatability study, along with a prior characterization study, provided information necessary to design and deploy a remediation system. From this study, it was determined that bioremediation, specifically a biopile system, was an appropriate method of remediation. This system was designed to promote the existing microbial communities to degrade contaminants to acceptable levels. The refinery project brings together several proven techniques and remediation tools used to remove and/or destroy contaminants via biostimulation of indigenous microbes found in the environment. The basic concepts of this technology are applicable to sites in the DOE complex having similar problems with organic contaminants in soil and having low soil pH levels. These sites include Oak Ridge, Hanford, Savannah River, Idaho, and Brookhaven.