In Its Infancy
"In
the use of a 'fertilizer for microbes' . . .
1989 Inipol EAP 22
Exxon's main problem was "assuming" that
the right microbes would just happen to be there, and, in fairness, the right
microbes would have taken too long to select, test, grow out, freeze-dry, grind
and apply."
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Full quote:
"The problem is more serious
to workers than to the environment.
Exxon's main problem was "assuming" that the right microbes would just
happen to be there, and, in fairness, the right microbes would have taken too
long to select, test, grow out, freeze-dry, grind and apply."
"Bioremediation technology was
in its infancy at the time of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and NOBODY was
completely knowledgeable about that technology at the time, which is why the EPA
authorized an experimental technology on that large a scale. They were more
afraid of "doing nothing" than of taking a chance that what they were
going to do would help."
"All technologies have to start somewhere and sometimes we learn more from
mistakes than from accidentally doing it right the first time. Today, the
technology for selecting, testing, growing, freeze-drying or spray-drying and
preserving "the right" microbes for commercially application is a much
more well-known process and can be accomplished by a number of knowledgeable
vendors of microbial blends, including Oppenheimer (the first to offer
commercially viable petroleum-degrading microbes), Osprey, Novozymes Biologicals,
Alken-Murray Corp., etc. If someone chose to research the abilities of these
companies and a number of modern universities with on-going bioremediation
research projects, they could obtain a microbial consortia specifically selected
to function at very cold (but not freezing) temperatures, hopefully with
biosurfactant production capability in those strains, and combine this consortia
with suitably researched nutrients and micro nutrients and possibly a chemical
surfactant, if needed, in a highly concentrated liquid formulation that could
diluted and applied by sprayer for similar situations. Alken-Murray does not
have such a "cold-selected" petroleum formulation because we have not
been asked to create one for a client, but it CAN be done with patience and
work, something nobody had when the Exxon Valdez started leaking tons of oil on
the Alaska shores."
Sincerely,
Valerie Anne Edwards
President
Alken-Murray Corporation
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leaving quoted comments...
Note: Alaska will not allow non-indigenous microbes to be introduced to Alaska's waters