According to a 2004 study by the EPA, the nation has more than $250 billion worth of clean up to do on 1,238 hazardous waste sites on the National Priorities List plus a myriad of others. The EPA estimates that using traditional methods will take around 30-35 years to fully eliminate the toxins. Such traditional methods include burying oil slicks and other wastes in the ground, burning the pollutants, digging them up and moving them to landfills, as well as just ignoring the problem in hopes that mother nature will “do her thing.” All of these methods end up contaminating plants and drinking water as well as the atmosphere, not to mention being time consuming and costly.
Environmental agencies, think tanks, and companies are looking for alternative solutions. Many have heard of remediation, but are unsure exactly what bioremediation is. Bioremediation uses biological microbes to breakdown chemical contaminants. Essentially, strings of Pac-Man’s are released into environmental sludge. They digest the toxins leaving only clean, rich soil in their wake.
Benefits of Bioremediation:
o Costs are reduced drastically, both in time, resources, money, and fighting negative press
o Clean up times are fractionalized, going from months or years to days and weeks
o Contaminants are reduced to near zero
o Contaminants aren’t recycled in some other form into the atmosphere
o All clean up is done in situ (meaning onsite without disturbing anything around it)
The EPA has 1,238 sites that are considered high priority. These include oil fields, manufacturing sites, military installations, and private properties and residences. Obviously, there are many sites yet to be serviced. Terra Nova Biosystems is working to meet that need. With over 200 proprietary strains of biomicrobes, Terra Nova leads the bioremediation industry. Our microbes can clean a wide range of contaminants, including some of the most difficult to treat, such as heavy metals and carbons.
