Microbial ecology of the subsurface at an abandoned creosote waste site

Thomas, J.M.; Lee, M. D.; Scott, M. J.; Ward, C. H.

doi:10.1007/bf01569795

Cited by 31 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…This is significantly hampering the adoption of the technology within industry. For example, it was shown in a study by Thomas et al (1989) that nutrient amendment and changes in pH and temperature had no effect on PAH degradation, whereas other studies found an increase in PAH degradation rates when nutrients were added, pH levels adjusted, or temperatures changed (AntizarLadislao et al, 2005a(AntizarLadislao et al, , 2005b(AntizarLadislao et al, , 2006. Investigation of the magnitude of PAHs losses by volatilization also give seemingly contradicting results, with some studies showing that volatilization represents a negligible PAH loss pathway (Guerin, 2000;Kirchmann and Ewnetu, 1998), whereas others show that volatilization plays an important role in contaminant removal (Bossert and Bartha, 1984;Cousins and Jones, 1998).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Bioremediation of Poly-Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH)-Contaminated Soil by Composting

Loick

Hobbs²,

Hale

et al. 2009

Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Bioremediation of Poly-Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH)-Contaminated Soil by Composting

Loick

Hobbs²,

Hale

et al. 2009

Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology

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“…Metabolic adaptation by subsurface microorganisms to environmental pollutants at field sites can be documented using two principal types of criteria: the response may be qualitative, i.e., metabolism may be present in contaminated samples and absent in adjacent uncontaminated samples [6,20,32,35], or the response may be quantitative, i.e., prior exposure of microorganisms to a pollutant may shorten the lag period prior to the onset of metabolic activity [1,2], increase the rate or extent of metabolism, or enhance the proportion of the pollutant that is respired [2]. The presence of a control site that is uncontaminated, adjacent to the contaminated groundwater plume, and whose microbial community exhibits either low or no contaminant metabolism is crucial for demonstrating adaptation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The presence of a control site that is uncontaminated, adjacent to the contaminated groundwater plume, and whose microbial community exhibits either low or no contaminant metabolism is crucial for demonstrating adaptation. This approach to demonstrating adaptation of subsurface microbial communities to groundwater pollution has been successful previously at the forested site in the Northeastern U.S. studied here [20], on a rural hillside near Athens, Georgia [6], and in semi-industrial settings near Copenhagen, Denmark [1]; Conroe, Texas [32,35];…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The operational definition of metabolic adaptation is well established: microbial metabolism of specific organic compounds is accelerated by prior exposure to the compounds [15,22,35]. Numerous investigations [1,2,6,20,32,35] have reported that subsurface samples from plumes of contaminated subsurface material were active in mineralizing organic compounds in microcosms, whereas mineralization of the same compounds by samples of adjacent uncontaminated samples was either low or absent. Likewise, exposure of uncontaminated subsurface samples of aquifer material to pollutant compounds in laboratory experiments has also been shown to accelerate microbial metabolism of the pollutant compounds in the material [2,29,30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Contrasts between subsurface microbial communities and their metabolic adaptation to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at a forested and an urban coal-tar disposal site

et al. 1992

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The abundance and distribution of microorganisms and their potential for mineralizing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured in subsurface sediment samples at two geographically separate buried coal-tar sites. At a relatively undisturbed forested site in the northeastern United States, metabolic adaptation to the PAHs was evident: Radiolabeled naphthalene and phenanthrene were converted to (14)CO2 in core material from inside but not outside a plume of groundwater contamination. However, at the urban site in the midwestern United States these PAHs were mineralized in sediments from both contaminated and uncontaminated boreholes. Thus, clear qualitative evidence showing an adaptational response by the subsurface microbial community was not obtained at the urban site. Instead, subtler clues suggesting metabolic adaptation by subsurface microorganisms from the urban site were discerned by comparing lag periods and extents of (14)CO2 production from radiolabeled PAHs added to samples from contaminated and uncontaminated boreholes. Despite slightly higher PAH mineralization activity in contaminated borehole samples, p-hydroxybenzoate was mineralized equally in all samples from the urban site regardless of location. No striking trends in the abundances of actinomycetes, fungi, and either viable or total bacteria were encountered. However, colonies of the soil bacterium, Bacillus mycoides, were detected on enumeration plates of several samples from unsaturated and saturated zones in both urban boreholes. Furthermore, other common soil bacteria, Myxococcus xanthus and Chromobacterium violaceum, were identified in samples from the uncontaminated urban borehole. The occurrence of bacteria usually restricted to surface soil, combined with the observation of fragments of building materials in many of the core samples, suggested that past excavation and backfilling operations may have caused mixing of surface soil with subsurface materials at the urban site. We speculate that this mixing, as well as non-coal-tar-derived sources of PAHs, contributed to the PAH-mineralizing activity present in the sediment samples from the uncontaminated urban borehole.

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“…Total nitrogen was determined by the semi-micro kjedahl method involving digestion and distillation procedures (Bremner, 1996). pH was measured with a pH meter using soil water ratio of 1:2.5 (Thomas et al 1996). The rate of mineralization (K R ) was determined using a modified first order kinetic equation given in the introduction (Smith et al 1980;Molina et al, 1980).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen Mineralization in Selected Solid Waste Dumpsites in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Ideriah¹,

Igwe²,

Stanley³

2010

Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management

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Organic wastes in selected waste dumpsites in Port Harcourt were successively incubated with sandy-loam soils for days at 27ºC, under aerobic conditions. The results showed marked decrease in total nitrogen in the organic wastes which was observed as loss of nitrogen. The process of nitrification and incorporation of (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 affected the pH which ranged from 5.9 to 7.9. The cumulative mineral nitrogen released increased with incubation periods and the rate of organic application up to 28 th day, with a maximum release of 456.40ppm at a rate of 61MT/ha organic application. The release of mineral N decreased on the 56 th day with a minimum of 177.80ppm at a rate of 60MT/ha of organic fertilizer only. An enriched organic. Waste soil and organic waste treated soil had a boosting effect on the release of mineral nitrogen. The amount of mineral nitrogen released was higher for (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 fertilizer treated soil than for organic waste treated soil. The mineralization rate was found to decrease with increasing age of the waste dumps. It was therefore recommended that organic wastes should be sorted and composted for use as organic fertilizers to augment inorganic fertilizer. @ JASEM

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Microbial ecology of the subsurface at an abandoned creosote waste site

Cited by 31 publications

References 18 publications

Bioremediation of Poly-Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH)-Contaminated Soil by Composting

Bioremediation of Poly-Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH)-Contaminated Soil by Composting

Contrasts between subsurface microbial communities and their metabolic adaptation to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at a forested and an urban coal-tar disposal site

Nitrogen Mineralization in Selected Solid Waste Dumpsites in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

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