Today's Growing Bioremediation Industry
By 1985, this prohibition had settled like a damp blanket across the whole
of the emerging biotechnology field. It also created a great deal of confusion
and apprehension about the issue of "bioremediation" in general.
However, the idea of cleaning up petroleum with microbes had seized the imagination
of many microbiologists who were experimenting to find ways to enhance the hydrocarbon-eating
abilities of naturally-occurring forms of soil microbes without manipulating
the organisms' genetic material.
In 1988, the U.S. EPA began extensive field tests of these newly perfected
non-genetically engineered bioremediation methods. In late 1990, EPA Administrator
William K. Reilly called the success of those large-scale tests "the only good
news to come out of" an era when oil spill disasters such as the Exxon Valdez
were occurring in record numbers. The EPA reported that bioremediation not only
worked and eliminated soil and waterborne hydrocarbon contamination, but did
so at about one-fifth the cost previously involved in cleaning up industrial
sites. Since then, the agency has routinely allowed the use of bioremediation
techniques for the cleanup of Superfund locations, military bases, industrial
facilities and local municipal and county government sites across the country.
Local government agencies are rapidly becoming bioremediation enthusiasts
as well. In its October 1994 cover story on bioremediation, American City &
County Magazine--the country's oldest and most respected journal for government
officials--reported: "At a time when more traditional remediation technologies
are proving to be slow, expensive and sometimes unpalatable to the local community,
bioremediation is becoming a popular alternative for many cities and counties"
seeking a simple and economic means for cleaning petroleum pollution.