FMC Corporation has teamed with a number of university researchers to investigate augmented bioremediation of oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident in coastal wetlands and marshes in the Gulf of Mexico. The Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research at Tarleton State University, Texas A & M Galveston Dept. of Marine Biology, Tarleton State Dept. of Engineering and FMC have formed a research group that will combine naturally occurring microbes with nutrients and PermeOx Plus®, FMC’s engineered oxygen-releasing chemistry, to “supercharge” the bacteria for the aerobic digestion of the weathered oil. The team will investigate efficiencies and biodegradation rates of various commercially-available product combinations and will monitor short and long term ecological effects of the treatments on flora and fauna of these sensitive wetland areas.

The team plans to perform two progressing levels of laboratory bench scale and mesocosm studies before taking the project to larger field plots applications along the coast. Oil degradation rate kinetics and bacterial enumeration will also be determined at various intervals. As oil from each well has a unique chemistry, or fingerprint, finding the right combination of products and concentrations is essential and unique to the Gulf spill. A successful study will lead to an augmented bioremediation procedure and process that can be used industry wide.