Bioremediation of crude oil released on a sandy beach in Delaware

A statistical approach was used to determine if mineral nutrient addition and/or microbial inoculation enhances the loss of crude oil experimentally released onto plots on the shoreline of Delaware Bay. Five replicates of three treatments were examined (nutrients alone, nutrients plus an inoculum of indigenous bacteria from the site, and an unamended control). Preliminary results suggested that alkanes and aromatics degraded faster on the treated plots compared to the unamended plots after 4 weeks. Furter enhancement of biodegradation by inoculum addition was not qualitatively evident in the first month.