Composting and biostimulation as strategies for chronically hydrocarbon contaminated soil recovery

ROCIO MEDINA; JANINA A ROSSO; MARIA TERESA DEL PANNO

Mar del Plata

Congreso; X Congreso Argentino de Microbiología General- SAMIGE; 2014

Asociacion Civil de Microbiologia General

The concept of treating PAH-contaminated soil by means of co-composting with organic materials or by mixing soil with mature compost has proved to be effective in the degradation of PAHs at the laboratory and/or field-scales. A contaminated soil was collected from a petrochemical area, near La Plata. It was characterized by a very low biological activity, probably due to the hydrocarbon content (4000ppm of aliphatic and 300ppm of PAH). The microbial populations were similar to those determined in pristine soils near of the area. The goals of our study were to investigate the potential of composting related practices in the biological recovery of the contaminated soil.