Abstract
A field study was conducted on a coastal salt marsh in Nova Scotia, Canada, during the summer of 2000. The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of biostimulation in restoring an oil-contaminated coastal marsh dominated by Spartina alterniflora under north-temperate conditions. Three remediation treatments were tested with two additional unoiled treatments, with and without added nutrients, serving as controls. This research determined the effectiveness of nitrogen and phosphorus addition for accelerating oil disappearance, the role of nutrients in enhancing restoration in the absence of wetland plants, and the rate at which the stressed salt marsh recovered. Petroleum hydrocarbons were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Statistically significant treatment differences were observed for alkanes but not aromatics in sediment samples. No differences were evident in above-ground vegetation samples. GC/MS-resolved alkanes and aromatics degraded substantially (>90% and >80%, respectively) after 20 weeks with no loss of TPH. Biodegradation was determined to be the main oil removal mechanism rather than physical washout.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the Eastern Canada Spill Response Corporation (ECRC) for securing the plots with boom and sorbent material. We also acknowledge the field and lab crew, consisting of J. Marie-Claude Blais, Jesus Cacho-Rivero, Paul Cushing, Renee Doucet, Monika Engel, Mar Esperanza Quintero, James Fang, Johanne Gautier, Denis Guay, Edith Holder, Charles Greer, Stephane Grenon, Sebastien Kaskassian, Paul de Percin, Marco Propato, Jaydeep Purandare, Sylvie St. Pierre, Gary Wohlgeschaffen, and Chen Zhao. Assistance in the statistical analysis was provided by Melynda Hazelwood, Statking Consulting, Fairfield, Ohio.
This work was partially funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under contract No. 68-C7-0057. This paper does not necessarily reflect the views of EPA, and no official endorsement should be inferred. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement by the EPA.
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Garcia-Blanco, S., Venosa, A.D., Suidan, M.T. et al. Biostimulation for the Treatment of an oil-contaminated Coastal Salt Marsh. Biodegradation 18, 1–15 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-005-9029-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-005-9029-3