Shoreline cleaner evaluation on a petroleum impacted wetland
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abstract
A controlled release of weathered crude oil (Arabian medium) was conducted in May 1998 at a well-characterized and fully instrumented wetland research site to assess the impact and performance of Corexit 9580 (EC9580), a shoreline cleaning agent. In this oil release experiment, 21 plots were divided into three treatment regimes: six oiled, no-action control plots; six oiled plots, high application dose of Corexit; and six oiled plots, low applications dose of Corexit. Sediment samples were taken as a function of time from May 1998 to October 1998, and analyzed for petroleum hydrocarbons, toxicity, microbial counts, nutrient levels and redox potential. Target hydrocarbon (aliphatic and PAH) levels were normalized to 17(H),21(H)-hopane, a conservative biological biomarker, to account for physical petroleum losses and to reduce heterogeneity in the hydrocarbon data. From initial results, Corexit 9580 did not significantly impact the removal of petroleum from the test plots. After oil application, populations of hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms (aliphatic- and PAH-degrading) increased, but was not significantly affected by Corexit application of Corexit. Decreases in the hopane-normalized concentrations of saturated hydrocarbons and PAH, natural attenuation seemed to be the key factor in the loss of petroleum from the plots.
