Newly Discovered Bacteria Could Aid Oil Cleanup

suraj.sun passes along news from Oregon State University, where researchers have discovered a new strain of bacteria that may be able to aid cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. The bacteria "can produce non-toxic, comparatively inexpensive 'rhamnolipids,' and effectively help degrade polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs — environmental pollutants that are one of the most harmful aspects of oil spills. Because of its unique characteristics, this new bacterial strain could be of considerable value in the long-term cleanup of the massive Gulf Coast oil spill, scientists say." In related news, Kevin Costner's centrifugal separator technology has gotten approval for deployment; now it is only waiting on funding from BP.

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Re:New tech?

[maxume]

What are you talking about with 'most of the gulf'?

The plumes of oil contaminated water are huge on their own, but in the context of the gulf they really aren't that big. There are 660 quadrillion gallons of water there. There is 'only' a few million tonnes of oil. If the oil goes everywhere, there is plenty of oxygen to react with it. If it doesn't go everywhere, then everywhere can't be completely depleted of oxygen.

Considering that something like 1/2 of the oil spilled is already mostly gone, the long term effects are probably going to be fairly manageable. It is the short term effects and the local effects that are going to be really bad.