KARACHI: Scientific treatment of beach soil begins
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Sept 18: Scientists at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) have started treating land layer across the slick-hit coastline of the city with oil degrading bacteria, expecting a positive result to emerge in six to eight weeks.
Initially the PAEC would apply procedures of bioremediation already developed at its National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad, for reclamation of oil-contaminated sand in the 1.7-km-long and 30-metre-wide defined area between Village Restaurant and Kinara Restaurant, they said.
According to a conservative estimate, a seven-km-long strip, stretched over the KPT area to DHA, has been damaged by the oil slick caused by spillage from the Tasman Spirit, a foreign oil tanker which ran aground on July 27. The late utilization of petroleum-degrading and biosurfactant-producing bacteria at the beach is in addition to manual clean-up operation, which is continuing in a half-hearted and unorganised manner for the last three weeks.
A PAEC member (Biosciences), Dr Kauser Abdullah Malik told Dawn that after a couple of formal presentations on the application of the biodegradation process, the NIBGE was given a go-ahead by the federal ministry of environment and the high-ups in the Sindh government.
Under the process, the 1.7-km strip of land along the shoreline as allocated by the DHA, has initially been ploughed up and layered and spray of the required bacteria is being carried out on daily basis since September 14. As per scientific calculations, the sprayed bacteria would not only multiply at the site but would also be eating up the crude oil mixed with the sand, he elaborated.
The NIBGE would require about Rs5 million to meet the expenditure on scientific process and logistic means involved in the process in absence of a clear commitment for funding from any government agencies or group responsible to make up the environmental and structural losses, he clarified.
“We at the PAEC were in a position to undertake the task and finally started it in the national interest because rectifying the colossal damage done to the environment and ecosystem as well as human health and Nature is possible only through immediate practical measures.”
According to scientists, bioremediation refers to any method that uses microorganism to recycle organic materials and sequester inorganic ions. Bioremediation promoted the growth and/or rapid multiplication of the microorganism that can effectively degrade specific contamination and convert them to non-toxic by-products.
The chief scientific officer of the NIBGE, Dr Zafar M. Khalid, said that at present 3,000 litres of the required bacteria, produced on a large scale under temporary arrangements at a PAEC establishment in Karachi, were being sprayed every day, which would reduce with the passage of time. Monitoring and measuring the progress of bioremediation would also be undertaken.
He said that by employing the expertise from the NIGBE and applying the methodologies developed for bioremediation, the oil-affected soil could be treated biologically to bring down the level of contamination where visual difference were seen. After a mobilization period of about two weeks, six to eight weeks would be required, depending on the extent of contamination, to complete the mineralization of the oil spill, he added.
