Thirty years of research into petroleum microbiology and bioremediation have
bypassed an important observation – that many hydrocarbon contaminated sites
posing potential risks to human health harbour weathered, ‘mid-distillate’ or
heavy oils (Pollard, 2003). Ex-situ biopiling is an important technology for
treating soils contaminated with weathered hydrocarbons. However, its
performance continues to be represented by reference to reductions in the
hydrocarbon ‘load’ in the soils being treated, rather than reductions in the
risks posed by the hydrocarbon contamination (Owens and Bourgouin, 2003; Tien et
al., 1999). The absence of ‘risk’ from the vocabulary of many operators and
remediation projects reduces stakeholder (regulatory, investor, landowner, and
public) confidence in remediation technologies, and subsequently limits the
market potential of these technologies. Stakeholder confidence in the biopiling
of weathered hydrocarbons may therefore be improved by demonstrating process
optimisation within a validated risk management framework. To address these
issues, a consortium led by Cranfield University’s Integrated Waste Management
Centre has secured funding from the Government’s Bioremediation LINK programme.
Project PROMISE (involving BP, SecondSite Regeneration Ltd., Dew Remediation
Ltd., TES Bretby (Mowlem Group), technology translators PERA, and academics from
Aberdeen, Cranfield and Lancaster Universities) aims to improve market
confidence in biopiling by demonstrating how this treatment may be applied
within a risk
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