Oil Biodegradation and Bioremediation: A Tale of the Two Worst Spills in U.S. History

Abstract

The devastating environmental impacts of the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 and its media notoriety made it a frequent comparison to the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the popular press in 2010, even though the nature of the two spills and the environments impacted were vastly different. Fortunately, unlike higher organisms that are adversely impacted by oil spills, microorganisms are able to consume petroleum hydrocarbons. These oil degrading indigenous microorganisms played a significant role in reducing the overall environmental impact of both the Exxon Valdez and BP Deepwater Horizon oil spills.

Microbial community successional patterns in beach sands impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

“…Drilling rig in April 2010 constitutes the largest accidental release of oil into the marine environment in recorded history. Oil contamination from the DWH spill had a profound impact on indigenous microbial communities, and all available studies recognize shifts in the composition of microbial communities in direct contact with oiled seawater and sediments in comparison with pristine environments (Atlas and Hazen, 2011;Joye et al, 2014;Kostka et al, 2014;King et al, 2015). Moreover, consistent patterns were observed in microbial communities exposed to DWH oil in the Gulf of Mexico including an increase in the relative abundance of members of the Gammaproteobacteria, a prevalence of known hydrocarbon-degrading populations, and the enriched abundance and expression of genes related to hydrocarbon degradation Kostka et al, 2014;King et al, 2015).…”

Impact of Photooxidation and Biodegradation on the Fate of Oil Spilled During the Deepwater Horizon Incident: Advanced Stages of Weathering

“…It has been estimated that between 4.2 and 4.9 million barrels of oil were released making it the largest accidental oil spill in history. [1][2][3] Numerous studies have examined the fate and impact of released Macondo oil within the plume [4][5][6][7][8] , on the surface of the Gulf 5,9,10 , buried in ocean sediments (either directly or as marine snow) 6,10 , in marshes [11][12][13][14] , and on beaches. 10,12,14-19 Not surprisingly, the environmental fate of the oil was influenced by many well documented weathering processes.…”

Microbial ecology of hydrocarbon-polluted coastal sediments

“…Microbial communities have evolved to adapt their metabolism to the presence of multi-contaminants Gillan et al 2005;Iannelli et al 2012;Kaci et al 2014;SabadiniSantos et al 2014;Wang and Tam 2012). However, hydrocarbon compounds and crude oil-derived products are the most abundant pollutants, the more spectacular source being oil spill as illustrated by the recent catastrophe of Deepwater Horizon in 2010, the largest oil spill so far observed (Atlas and Hazen 2011). Although they are frequently found at unacceptably high concentrations, hydrocarbons are natural compounds, and thus, most of them can be biodegraded by the collective catabolic diversity of microorganisms Head et al 2006;Leahy and Colwell 1990;Miralles et al 2007;Paisse et al 2011;Paisse et al 2010), particularly demonstrated in coastal marine ecosystems such as salt marshes with microbial mat structures (Bordenave et al 2004a;Bordenave et al 2008;Bordenave et al 2007;Bordenave et al 2004b), mangroves (Brito et al 2009;Brito et al 2006) and estuaries (Chronopoulou et al 2013;Coulon et al 2012).…”