• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.704-715
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• 2006

Oil spill was found in 1999 from a diesel storage facility located near the top of Baekun Mountain in Uiwang City. Application of bioremediation techniques was very relevant in removing oil spills in this site, because the geological condition was not amenable for other onsite remediation techniques. For efficient bioremediation, bacterial communities of the contaminated site and the uncontaminated control site were compared using both molecular and cultivation techniques. Soil bacterial populations were observed to be stimulated to grow in the soils contaminated with diesel hydrocarbon, whereas fungal and actinomycetes populations were decreased by diesel contamination. Most of the dieseldegrading bacteria isolated from contaminated forest soils were strains of Pseudomonas, Ralstonia, and Rhodococcus species. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis revealed that the profiles were different among the three contaminated sites, whereas those of the control sites were identical to each other. Analysis of 16S rDNA sequences of dominant isolates and clones showed that the bacterial community was less diverse in the oil-contaminated site than at the control site. Sequence analysis of the alkane hydroxylase genes cloned from soil microbial DNAs indicated that their diversity and distribution were different between the contaminated site and the control site. The results indicated that diesel contamination exerted a strong selection on the indigenous microbial community in the contaminated site, leading to predominance of well-adapted microorganisms in concurrence with decrease of microbial diversity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.148-151
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• 2003

Soil washing was applied as a supplementary step of soil remediation at a petroleum oil contaminated site. A soil washing system was designed, assembled, and operated at the site. A field screening method with PetroFlagTM was adopted at the site to find the exact boundary of contaminated area as soil excavation progressed and to verify the concentration of treated soil. The system operation showed the cleanup efficiency of 90% at the compatible cost compared to other methods.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.72-79
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• 2016

Bioremediation is one of the most effective ways to remediate TPH-contaminated sites. However, under actual field conditions that are not at the optimum temperature, degradation of microorganisms is generally reduced, which is why the efficiency of biodegradation is known to be significantly affected by the soil temperature. Therefore, in this study, the labscale experiment was conducted using indigenous crude oil degrading microorganisms isolated from crude oil contaminated site to evaluate the remediation efficiency. Crude oil degrading microorganisms were isolated from crude oil contaminated soil and temperature, which is a significant factor affecting the remediation efficiency of land farming, was adjusted to evaluate the microbial crude oil degrading ability, degradation time, and remediation efficiency. In order to assess the field applicability, the remediation efficiency was evaluated using crude oil contaminated soil (average TPH concentration of 10,000 mg/kg or more) from the OO premises. Followed by the application of microorganisms at 30℃, the bioremediation process reduced its initial TPH concentration of 10,812 mg/kg down to 1,890 mg/kg in 56 days, which was about an 83% remediation efficiency. By analyzing the correlation among the total number of cells, the number of effective cells, and TPH concentration, it was found that the number of effective microorganisms drastically increased during the period from 10 to 20 days while there was a sharp decrease in TPH concentration. Therefore, we confirmed the applicability of land farming with isolated microorganisms consortium to crude oil contaminated site, which is also expected to be applicable to bioremediation of other recalcitrant materials.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.9
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• pp.659-666
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to suggest a standard design procedure of landfarming for clean-up of oil-contaminated soils. The standard design procedure consisted of four main phases; soil characterization, determination of contaminated soil volume, determination of nutrient and microbial doses, and estimation of the total remedial period. This study selected standard design parameter values or ranges among various forms used in environmental engineer communities. Those were determination procedures for the contaminated soil volume, the initial contamination concentration and nutrient doses. The suggested standard design procedure were applied for a landfarm design for remediation of a real oil-contaminated site. Soil texture of the site was classified as sandy clay loam and sandy loam. Total nitrogen and total phosphorus were estimated to be 57.01 mg/kg and 83.40 mg/kg, respectively. Also the viable bacterial numbers was assessed to be $1.78{\times}10^4CFU/g$ dry soil. The amount of TPH contaminated soil was estimated to be $4,092m^3$. With the application of remedial factors, it was estimated that the contaminated soil could be treated through 9 batches with a duration of 315 days for a landfarming unit of $15m{\times}40m{\times}1m$. The amount of liquid microorganisms and fertilizers were recommended to be 4,025L and 4,641kg, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.31-39
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• 1997

Between 40,000 and 60,000 liters of light oil were spilled when an underground pipe broke at a newly constructed landfill site in coastal area, Korea. Methods were presented to examine the subsurface distribution of the contaminants in hydrocarbon-contaminated soil. As results, large quantities of oil and grease were found to have migrated horizontally at the site. Oil and grease plume at concentrations of 38-88 mg/kg was formed horizontally through silty sand with gravel fill and the vertical movement of the contaminants was thought to be limited to groundwater level between 2 and 4 m corresponding to sea water level. Right after finding the leakage area, the early action of excavation and pumping out the mixture of groundwater and oil was taken and it was proved to be very effective for preventing further contamination. Two months after the leakage, oil and grease in sea water sample near contaminated area was not detectable.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.1339-1347
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• 2010

In this study, the identity and distribution of plants and the structure of their associated rhizobacterial communities were examined in an oil-contaminated site. The number of plant species that formed a community or were scattered was 24. The species living in soil highly contaminated with total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) (9,000-4,5000 mg/g-soil) were Cynodon dactylon, Persicaria lapathifolia, and Calystegia soldanella (a halophytic species). Among the 24 plant species, the following have been known to be effective for oil removal: C. dactylon, Digitaria sanguinalis, and Cyperus orthostachyus. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profile analysis showed that the following pairs of plant species had highly similar (above 70%) rhizobacterial community structures: Artemisia princeps and Hemistepta lyrata; C. dactylon and P. lapathifolia; Carex kobomugi and Cardamine flexuosa; and Equisetum arvense and D. sanguinalis. The major groups of rhizobacteria were Beta-proteobacteria, Gamma-proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria, and unknown. Based on DGGE analysis, P. lapathifolia, found for the first time in this study growing in the presence of high TPH, may be a good species for phytoremediation of oil-contaminated soils and in particular, C. soldanella may be useful for soils with high TPH and salt concentrations. Overall, this study suggests that the plant roots, regardless of plant species, may have a similar influence on the bacterial community structure in oil-contaminated soil.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.12-29
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• 2023

Conceptual site model (CSM) development and enhancement for contaminated sites assists in identifying data gaps during the site investigation process. In this study, CSM was developed and enhanced for a contaminated site in Korea as a case study. Site Y was scrutinized four times previously. The site profiles for each scrutiny were reorganized based on the scrutiny reports, and the relevant data was utilized to develop and enhance CSMs. CSM for the first investigation was developed in various forms including table, flowchart, diagram, and narrative formats. CSM was enhanced in a stepwise manner by incorporating the updated profile information obtained in next investigation to existing CSM. The hypothetical data gap analysis between each investigation step was established to meet the purpose of the follow-up investigation. This case study showed that CSM is a useful tool to identify the history and current status of contaminated sites and thereby help in planning supplementary investigations for better site characterization.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.418-421
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• 2003

Surfactant enhanced in-situ soil flushing was peformed to remediate the soil and groundwater at an oil contaminated site, and the effluent solution was treated by the chemical treatment process including DAF(Dissolved Air Flotation). A section from the contaminated site(4.5m$\times$4.5m$\times$6.0m) was selected for the research, which was composed of heterogeneous sandy and silt-sandy soils with average Hydraulic conductivity of 2.0$\times$10$^{-4}$ cm/sec. Two percent of sorbitan monooleate(POE 20) and 0.07% of iso-prophyl alcohol were mixed for the surfactant solution and 3 pore volumes of surfactant solution were injected to remove oil from the contaminant section. Four injection wells and two extraction wells were built in the section to flush surfactant solution. Water samples taken from extraction wells and the storage tank were analyzed by GC(gas-chromatography) for TPH concentration with different time. Five pore volumes of solution were extracted while TPH concentration in soil and groundwater at the section were below the Waste Water Discharge Limit(WWDL). Total 18.5kg of oil (TPH) was removed from the section. The concentration of heavy metals in the effluent solution also increased with the increase of TPH concentration, suggesting that the surfactant enhanced in-situ flushing be available to remove not only oil but heavy metals from contaminated sites. Results suggest that in-situ soil flushing and chemical treatment process including DAF could be a successful process to remediate contaminated sites distributed in Korea.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.28-34
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• 2005

The aim of this article is to assess the application characteristics of the site by remediating oil-contaminated area using DSB (Deep-site Biopile) system. In the contaminated area, the soil was composed of penetrable sand and the leaked oil was spread widely (total 7,201 cubic meters) through 2.5 meter deep underground water flow. DSB system was operated for 30 minutes intervals for 24 hours in a day (30 minutes opεration and 30 minutes stop). To check contamination level change in the contaminated area after DSB system was operated, samples were taken. The result from the site shows that BTEX/TPH contamination level was dropped 50% after 30-day operation of DSB system, and that contamination level was dropped below contamination level check standard after 165 days and the remediation was completed. Unlike traditional biological remediation methods DSB system could efficiently process soil and water which were contaminated by high levels of oil compounds.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.982-984
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• 2008

Generally, the soil around railroad is contaminated by the leakage of oil during its maintenance or the operation of rolling stock. Because the railroad soil is located under ballast and is hardened with the designated strength due to safety, the characteristics of the polluted site are different. In this study, the phenomena of oil diffusion in the railroad site was investigated using 2-D reactor. The used oil was lubricant. As a result, the maximum diffusion depth of lubricant was about 9.5 cm due to its high viscosity and the hardened soil. The lubricant was diffused by gravity more than by horizontal migration. In the future, these results can be applied to develop a remediation method for the contaminated railroad soil.