: This project will (1) reduce contact of living organisms with oil in the littoral region by binding the oil to OilMaster, (2) hasten the breakdown of oil in the area by microbial activity encouraged by OilMaster and (3) provide a tool for easier removal of oil from open water, such as that just off beaches and just outside reed beds. It is anticipated that the results of this project will provide a powerful new tool for fighting and ameliorating marine oil disasters. Success in this project will also create a use for an agricultural waste product, bovine manure. Terrenew plans to set up a manure processing operation at a large dairy farm near the Gulf of Mexico. This will create jobs and help to alleviate the Gulf disaster, and will also provide a useful resource for alleviating the environmental effects of future oil spills.
This grant was directed to alleviation of the worst effects of the Gulf oil well spill. However, by the time our grant started, the well in the Gulf had been capped and there was very little oil remaining. Our original concept involved protection of reeds and other organisms in the littoral zone from oil by spreading or blowing in particulates that would provide a matrix for growth and slow-release (and therefore nonpolluting) nutrient sources for microbes. The material of choice was dried farm fiber that has only low soluble N levels, but we subsequently found that this procedure was not permissible by the EPA. We are confident this approach would have been effective, since the farm fiber was not only supportive of oil-degrading microbial biomass growth but it was also very effective in absorbing and binding oil to make it unavailable and not polluting to organisms. Given that, we developed polymer fiber-based materials that are extremely effective in absorbing and binding oil; the majority of the oil uptake is via highly effective dried agricultural wastes that are sandwiched between two layers of water repellent polymer fiber (see figure). These are provided as oil-absorbing pads. This product is reaching the marketplace now in quantity; the performance is superior to competitive products and its is composed primarily (about 70%) of renewable farm fibers rather than pure synthetic polymers commonly in use. Terrenew has just completed development of an efficient high volume manufacturing line and process. A critical need is for EPA approval of these materials for oil spill cleanup on water and an application is pending. We also searched for highly effective microbial communities that can degrade oil. We isolated a number of effective communities. The most effective, however, even for oil on water, was from soil at the root-soil interface of plants that are grown in oil polluted soils. If the plants can be made resistant to the oil contaminants, then the roots will support additional microbial growth that degrades oil in soil. This approach was effective since we have developed specific fungal strains that colonize roots and increase the resistance to stresses of all types. There is very little oil remaining in soil after thorough root colonization so this form of bioremediation is effective. The dried soil itself is a good source for microbial communities that degrade oil. We tested several bacterial sources, but the only one that degraded the heavy Gulf crude was from willow or wheat root soil interfaces. As a side benefit, this development also provides a method of in situ remediation of oily soils, and if willows are used, the biomass can be used for energy production. It is now essential to identify the components of the effective microbial communities and the genes that they contain. We plant follow-on experiments with the Venter Institute, who have great experience in metagenomics of microbial communities to accomplish this. All of the effective strains we tested required a nutrient source, probably one that provides organic nitrogen sources (e.g., amino acids). We have discovered other organisms that degrade a common agricultural waste that is very high in nitrogen to provide a microbially-mediated slow release source of amino acids. We also have identified prototype composite structures that include the pad materials, microbial communities and microbially-mediated slow-release N. These are being evaluated at this time. Once the follow-on projects are completed, we expect to have structures that contain well characterized genomic communities and particulate slow release N sources all contained in a structure consisting of water-repellent fabrics to provide floatation and therefore easy recovery from the environment, and water absorbing fabrics to allow the microbial communities to become activated. We anticipate a new generation of both oil absorbing and remediating systems and products to bioremediate oil spills on water, and that can meet regulatory approvals. An advanced structure was developed that combines oil-degrading microbial communities, a high level of oil absorption and other components. These materials are proprietary to Cornell University and Terrenew at this time.
