|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Liberty Engineering offers complete
hydrocarbon remediation in 90 days
Hamburg, NY, September 8, 2008 -- A western New York
engineering firm has developed an affordable bioremediation system that
promises to revolutionize the manner – and the speed – with which
carcinogens are removed from soil.
According to Tobin Danison, President & CEO of Liberty Engineering of
Hamburg, NY, the initial activation of hydrocarbon-destroying bacteria takes
only about two and a half days with substantial results obtained almost
immediately. A reduction of approximately 50 percent of contaminated soil is
realized in 21 days; 80 percent in 60 days; and full remediation in just 90
days.
So successful is the innovative Liberty Engineering process that a pair of
hawks and a family of deer took up residence at one of its test locations a
few weeks before the 90-day mark was set to arrive on September 16, 2008.
The 1.5-acre bio-cell site near Buffalo is now sufficiently sanitized to
pass or surpass environmental inspection guidelines for future residential
and/or recreational use.
“When we started work on the project on June 16, 2008, it looked like
downtown Baghdad,” said Danison. “A red-tailed hawk and a doe showed up
shortly after the gasoline odor was gone. There are now a great number of
hoof prints and other wildlife activity on the site – including lots of
foliage. It’s actually starting to look like a forever wild nature
preserve.”
Although microbial degradation of hydrocarbons has been well documented in
numerous scientific journals, the Liberty Engineering breakthrough -- which
combines bio-stimulation and augmentation -- is by far the fastest acting
and most complete method for remediation of hydrocarbons and other volatile
organic compounds.
Best of all, Liberty Engineering’s bioremediation process effectively breaks
down and detoxifies the wastes in lieu of burying the problem somewhere
else.
“Our bioremediation system employs microbial substrate, oxygen enriched
feedwater and nutrients to completely transform petroleum products and other
hydrocarbons into water, carbon dioxide and biomass. Under proper
supervision, complete remediation is achieved within 90 days of treatment,”
said Danison.
A native of Ohio who attended high school in Ballston Spa, NY, before
earning his engineering degree from Excelsior College, Danison first became
interested in bioremediation as an alternative to disposal of contaminated
soil after learning about the Love Canal. Entire neighborhoods were
abandoned near Niagara Falls, NY due to soil contamination caused by the
Hooker Chemical Company.
Work on his groundbreaking bioremediation began in earnest early 2008 in
Hamburg, NY as a potential solution for cleanup of waste caused by leaky
underground tanks there. Joe Russo of Russo Development, Springville, NY was
the developer on the job site and teamed with Liberty Engineering to
undertake the project.
The bioremediation technique of hydrocarbon remediation offers a rapid and
affordable solution to cleaning up petroleum based spills and is in keeping
with the responsible preferred EPA requirements of total destruction of the
hazardous compounds.
While the start to finish cost of cleaning up the toxic site near Buffalo
was around $300,000, the cost of complete bioremediation in a single season
ranges from $16,000 to $15-million depending on the size and scope of the
project.
In terms of minimum and maximum size requirements, Danison said Liberty
Engineering has no limits. “We are currently scoping a 40-acre hydrocarbon
and heavy metal contaminated site near Brick, New Jersey, and also have the
ability to cross the border into Canada as only a work permit is required to
execute environmental clean-up projects there. In fact, we recently started
a project in southern Ontario.”
Danison added that the bulk of the physical work on his firm’s
bioremediation projects is performed by construction labor that is available
fairly readily. His personal involvement is primarily required to
characterize the waste and specify a process of treatment.
“In principle, we can work on any number of projects at one time. We are
limited only by ambient temperature. The process works best in temperatures
above 40 degrees Fahrenheit, but 80 degrees Fahrenheit nominal is the
target,” added Danison.
Just how does his firm’s speedy and cost-effective bioremediation process
work?
Liberty Engineering utilizes gas sparge equipment that is skid mounted in
the shop rather than on-site with microbes being batch fed to a water tanker
prior to distribution to the soil. Approximately 70,000 gallons of water
that is free of chlorine, grease, oil, pesticides, high levels of sodium and
other components that might be deleterious to the life of the bacteria are
needed for each 90-day treatment dependent upon rainfall. The target soil
moisture content is 10-15 percent.
The water tanker, meanwhile, contains oxygenated feed water that has been
dissolved at the required temperature for bio-augmentation.
The sparger utilized by Liberty Engineering boasts an integral recirculation
and oxygen injection system as well as controls to meter the required
oxygen/water mixture.
Bio-stimulation of the carcinogen killers is a key component of the
revolutionary new system. This enhanced state is achieved by adding specific
nutrients for the indigenous bacteria in an oxygen rich environment as well
as bio-augmentation of bacteria selected for affinity to the specific
contaminates.
“Bacteria, as all living organisms, have certain chemical and physical
growth requirements. The proper application of these conditions is
especially important in considering bioremediation,” noted Danison.
Among the basic mechanisms required for his firm’s Ex-Situ Bioremediation
System to succeed are an oxygen supply and an energy source for biosynthetic
reactions to make polymers such as proteins from amino acids and RNA and DNA
from nucleotides.
“Some bacteria can utilize light energy, however, the ones we are concerned
with oxidize chemical compounds to obtain their energy. The bacteria that
are involved in bioremediation are chemoorganotrophs as they utilize organic
compounds for their energy source,” explained Danison.
“A carbon source is also crucial because while some bacteria can utilize
carbon dioxide as a sole carbon source, the organisms concerned with
bioremediation are heterotrophs that require an organic source of carbon,”
he added.
The process additionally calls for a nitrogen source such as ammonia,
nitrate or organic nitrogen. Phosphate is needed to ensure energy transfer
reactions while minerals such as magnesium, manganese, iron, etc. are
typically available in the soil. No other augmentation is required.
Given the ramifications of pioneering the first 90-day hydrocarbon
remediation project in the world, was Danison ever worried that something
might go terribly awry?
“I had an emergency plan to sterilize the area if something went wrong, but
I was also optimistic that I would not need to use it,” mused Danison, whose
winning edge was sharpened at an early age as part of a household with 10
mostly male siblings. He and wife, Lori, have two sons: Ryan and Stephen.
Reflecting back on what will surely be remembered as the most captivating
consecutive 90-days of his career, Danison was quick to share the things
that brought him the greatest lift during visits to the test site near
Buffalo.
“The first time I noticed that some of the blacktop near the bio-cell was
actually being eaten by the microbes and had turned it white was really
rewarding,” said Danison. “But the greatest joy by far was the arrival of a
red-tailed hawk followed by a gentle doe. That was when I knew for sure that
the project was a success.”
Liberty Engineering is a full-service environmental remediation company
based in Hamburg, NY, that specializes in bioremediation.
For more information, consultation and quotes, please call 716-491-9977.
Press Release by Ann Hauprich -
www.AnnHauprich.com
|
|
|
|
|
|