Mega Borg Oil Spill off the Texas Coast: An Open-Water Bioremediation Test

OPPENHEIMER, CARL H., University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

Nature has developed hydrocarbons as a part of life. Since the origin of life, more than 60,000 organic molecules have evolved that make up protoplasm; a given percentage of these molecules are hydrocarbons. Commercial hydrocarbon deposits are a by-product of this natural process and a continual source of oil in our aquatic environment through seeps. As a result, nature has also evolved a recycling system for the hydrocarbons. This cycle is the basis for a program of bioremediation using microorganisms. Effort has been made to develop mixed cultures capable of a wide range of hydrocarbon metabolism and co-metabolism. The cultures are economically produced in high concentrations as a dry powder with a shelf life of one year. The result is an economical process for the application of ba teria to hydrocarbon pollutants on water and soils. The process of bioremediation to the recent Mega Borg accident will be discussed.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91004 © 1991 AAPG Annual Convention Dallas, Texas, April 7-10, 1991 (2009)