Bacteria Help Clean Up Fuels Spills at Australian Antarctic Stations
06.12.2010 - Logistics, Flora & Fauna, Antarctic
A new project involving micro-organisms will help scientists at Australian Antarctic stations clean up contaminated sites both in Antarctica and on sub-Antarctic islands this season. The clean-up effort will be focused on oil spills that happened at Casey Station and Macquarie Island. Occurring most often around older Antarctic stations, fuel spills have an impact on the environment. If they spread, they could pose a threat to Antarctic fauna.
Scientists plan to encourage naturally-occurring micro-organisms in the soil – which can use fuel as a source of food – to consume the leaked fuel in order to expedite the clean-up. The bacteria are being encouraged by aerating the soil and adding nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus to the contaminated soil.
In addition to using the bacteria, the team of scientists will use permeable reactive barriers developed in collaboration with scientists from Melbourne University to prevent the fuel from spreading from the identified contaminated sites into the surrounding environment. By doing so, the team will help finalize the clean-up at Casey Station by collecting and shipping the contaminated soil back to Australia.
A number of scientists involved in the project will leave for Antarctica on the icebreaker Aurora Australis.
