Method of aerobic-anaerobic bioremediation of a raised bog in Western Siberia affected by old oil pollution. A pilot test

• An extreme bog site polluted with crude of 20 years old and covered with an asphalt-like crust was treated by us.
• Our gentle bioremediation method without special heavy equipment on a real bog was tested at the first time in Russia.
• The Rhoder was used on bog surface and the electron acceptor with the Rhoder were injected into the moss for bioremediation.
• This method does not disturb the integrity of the bog landscape and the biogeocenosis developed there over centuries.

The aerobic-anaerobic method of bioremediation was used in Western Siberia on an extreme site of a raised bog polluted with oil 20 years ago. The area was covered with an asphalt crust that can withstand a weight up to 60 kg without being destroyed. The crust was up to 1.5 cm thick; the underlying heavily oil-polluted moss was 15–25 cm. This area was divided into three plots (25 × 30 m2). The concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) was 446.7–526.8 g/kg DM. The oil-oxidizing preparation Rhoder and a fertilizer were applied three times to the surface of the first plot by sprinkling; the electron acceptor was introduced into the moss together with the Rhoder under pressure to 15 cm. On the second plot indigenous microorganisms were activated with a fertilizer three times. The third plot was used as a negative control. As a result TPH concentration decreased by 23.0% in the layer of 0–10 cm and by 72.6% in the layer of 10–25 cm on the first plot. On the second plot (the activation of indigenous microflora) the TPH decreased by 28.7% only in the layer of 10–25 cm. The HC concentration in the control plot did not decrease at all.