PHYTOREMEDIATION OF CRUDE OIL- CONTAMINATED SOIL

Plant selection and soil amendments are important for successful phytoremediation. The goal of this research was to evaluate the use of phytoremediation to clean up soils contaminated with weathered crude oil. A greenhouse study was conducted to evaluate the effect of N rates on the growth of three warm-season grasses and a warm-season legume. Alkane, Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH), and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) degrader levels in the crude oil-contaminated soil were significantly higher in rhizosphere soil as compared to bulk soil. Results from the field study showed that TPH levels at time = 6 months were significantly lower in vegetated fertilized plots than in non-vegetated non-fertilized plots. Vegetation establishment and fertilizer addition resulted in increased bacterial, fungal, and PAH degrader levels. These studies demonstrated the importance of plants, agronomic techniques, and their effect on rhizosphere microorganisms in the clean up of crude oil-contaminated sites