A MICROBIOLOGICAL STUDY ON A BIOPILE ASSESSED FOR OIL SPILL SOIL REMEDIATION

A biopile was assessed by moving most of the soil contaminated by diesel fuel to a near site. The structure was organized with an aeration and a re-circulating water systems and a microbial inoculant containing a dried consortium of oil degrading bacterial strains was periodically released in the soil. The degradation of the contaminating diesel fuel was constantly monitored. In order to understand how the newly introduced microflora and the resident microbial populations are involved in the remediation activity, a study on the nature of both the microbial components was undertaken. This included isolation from soil, investigations on the metabolic activity of soil microbiota, respiration activity of soil bacteria, soil DNA extraction and analyses.