Bioremediation: A Competitive Alternative for the Cleanup of Contaminated MGP Sites

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are characteristically highly carcinogenic, microbial recalcitrant, and accumulate easily in soil and groundwater. This contributes to the increasing environmental concern of contamination from PAHs. PAH contamination occurs primarily from leaking underground storage tanks and manufactured gas plant (MGP) sites. In this work, contaminated soil was analyzed for feasibility of cleanup via bioremediation, and selection criteria for the microorganisms were developed for the specificity of a MGP site. The bioremediation process was compared with the ex-situ processes of coal agloflotation, solvent extraction, and supercritical fluid extraction