Grantee Research Project Results
IPEC University of Tulsa (TU)
EPA Grant Number: X832428Center: Center for the Study of Metals in the Environment
Center Director: Allen, Herbert E.
Title: IPEC University of Tulsa (TU)
Investigators: Sublette, Kerry L.
Current Investigators: Sublette, Kerry L. , Suflita, Joseph , Gasem, Khaled A , Babcock, Robert E.
Institution: University of Tulsa
Current Institution: University of Tulsa , Oklahoma State University , University of Arkansas , University of Oklahoma
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period: October 12, 2005 through October 11, 2006 (Extended to June 30, 2007)
Project Amount: $70,740
RFA: Integrated Petroleum Environmental Consortium (IPEC) (1999) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Targeted Research
Objective:
Historic oil brine scars (sites that repeatedly received produced water) are extremely difficult to remediate because these sites possess degraded, highly saline soils, erosion damage, little or no plant cover and an altered microbial community. Ecosystem function is diminished as a result of these impacts.
We are evaluating the contribution of fiber rolls to restoration of a historic oil brine scar in south Arkansas. Four treatments (natural attenuation, standard soil reclamation techniques, fiber rolls, and soil reclamation with fiber rolls) have been applied to plots within the site. Fiber rolls are tubes formed with a geotextile material and filled with organic fiber, mycorrhizal fungal inoculum, bacterial inoculum (soil) and salt-tolerant plants. Consequently, fiber rolls may serve a variety of ecological functions including primary productivity, filtering of sediments and moisture and nutrient retention. Rolls also serve as a source vegetative growth, seeds, microbial spores, organic matter and nutrients.
Our primary objective is to examine the utility of fiber rolls as an effective, inexpensive, and easy-to-use remediation tool at oil brine spill sites. Established fiber rolls and adjacent brine affected plots will be examined to determine the:
1) Structural integrity and ability of fiber rolls to withstand periodic flooding/water flow,
2) Amount of sediment accretion behind fiber rolls,
3) Survival, extent and type of vegetative growth in fiber rolls, and
4) Type and extent of vegetation expansion from fiber rolls onto adjacent soils.
Soil reclamation as a result of treatments will also be assessed through measurements of electrical conductivity, sodium adsorption ratio, and cation exchange capacity.
Journal Articles: 19 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other center views: | All 23 publications | 19 publications in selected types | All 19 journal articles |
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Biggerstaff JP, Le Puil M, Weidow BL, Leblanc-Gridley J, Jennings E, Busch-Harris J, Sublette KL, White DC, Alberte RS. A novel and in situ technique for the quantitative detection of MTBE and benzene degrading bacteria in contaminated matrices. Journal of Microbiological Methods 2007;68(2):437-441. |
X832428 (Final) |
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Busch-Harris J, Sublette K, Roberts KP, Landrum C, Peacock AD, Davis G, Ogles D, Holmes WE, Harris D, Ota C, Yang X, Kolhatkar A. Bio-traps coupled with molecular biological methods and stable isotope probing demonstrate the in situ biodegradation potential of MTBE and TBA in gasoline-contaminated aquifers. Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation 2008;28(4):47-62. |
X832428 (Final) |
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Callaghan AV, Gieg LM, Kropp KG, Suflita JM, Young LY. Comparison of mechanisms of alkane metabolism under sulfate-reducing conditions among two bacterial isolates and a bacterial consortium. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2006;72(6):4274-4282. |
X832428 (Final) |
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Chang Y-J, Long PE, Geyer R, Peacock AD, Resch CT, Sublette KL, Pfiffner S, Smithgail A, Anderson RT, Vrionis HA, Stephen JR, Dayvault R, Ortiz-Bernad I, Lovley DR, White DC. Microbial incorporation of 13C-labeled acetate at the field scale: detection of microbes responsible for reduction of U(VI). Environmental Science & Technology 2005;39(23):9039-9048. |
X832428 (Final) |
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Davis G, Baldwin BR, Peacock AD, Ogles D, White GM, Boyle SL, Raes E, Koenigsberg SS, Sublette KL. Integrated approach to PCE-impacted site characterization, site management, and enhanced bioremediation. Remediation Journal 2008;18(4):5-17. |
X832428 (Final) |
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Fisher JB, Sublette KL. Environmental releases from exploration and production operations in Oklahoma: type, volume, causes, and prevention. Environmental Geosciences 2005;12(2):89-99. |
X832428 (Final) |
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Geyer R, Peacock AD, Miltner A, Richnow HH, White DC, Sublette KL, Kastner M. In situ assessment of biodegradation potential using biotraps amended with 13C-labeled benzene or toluene. Environmental Science & Technology 2005;39(13):4983-4989. |
X832428 (Final) R830633 (Final) |
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Ghosh D, Roy K, Williamson KE, White DC, Wommack KE, Sublette KL, Radosevich M. Prevalence of lysogeny among soil bacteria and presence of 16S rRNA and trzN genes in viral-community DNA. Applied & Environmental Microbiology 2008;74(2):495-502. |
X832428 (Final) |
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Ghosh D, Krishnakali R, Srinivasan V, Mueller T, Tuovinen OH, Sublette K, Peacock A, Radosevich M. In-situ enrichment and analysis of atrazine-degrading microbial communities using atrazine-containing porous beads. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 2008;41(6):1331-1334. |
X832428 (Final) |
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Gieg LM, Duncan KE, Suflita JM. Bioenergy production via microbial conversion of residual oil to natural gas. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2008;74(10):3022-3029. |
X832428 (Final) |
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Harris TM, Tapp JB, Sublette KL. Remediation of oil-field brine-impacted soil using a subsurface drainage system and hay. Environmental Geosciences 2005;12(2):101-113. |
X832428 (Final) |
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Jager HI, Efroymson RA, Sublette KL, Ashwood TA. Unnatural landscapes in ecology: generating the spatial distribution of brine spills. Environmetrics 2005;16(7):687-698. |
X832428 (Final) |
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Sublette KL, Moralwar A, Ford L, Duncan K, Thoma G, Brokaw J. Remediation of a spill of crude oil and brine without gypsum. Environmental Geosciences 2005;12(2):115-125. |
X832428 (Final) |
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Sublette KL, Tapp JB, Fisher JB, Jennings E, Duncan K, Thoma G, Brokaw J, Todd T. Lessons learned in remediation and restoration in the Oklahoma prairie: a review. Applied Geochemistry 2007;22(10):2225-2239. |
X832428 (Final) R830633 (Final) |
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Sublette K, Peacock A, White D, Davis G, Ogles D, Cook D, Kolhatkar R, Beckmann D, Yang X. Monitoring subsurface microbial ecology in a sulfate-amended, gasoline-contaminated aquifer. Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation 2006;26(2):70-78. |
X832428 (Final) |
Exit Exit |
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Sublette K, Jennings E, Mehta C, Duncan K, Brokaw J, Todd T, Thoma G. Monitoring soil ecosystem recovery following bioremediation of a terrestrial crude oil spill with and without a fertilizer amendment. Soil and Sediment Contamination 2007;16(2):181-208. |
X832428 (Final) R830633 (Final) |
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Thompson OA, Wolf DC, Mattice JD, Thoma GJ. Influence of nitrogen addition and plant root parameters on phytoremediation of pyrene-contaminated soil. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 2008;189(1-4):37-47. |
X832428 (Final) |
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White Jr. PM, Wolf DC, Thoma GJ, Reynolds CM. Phytoremediation of alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a crude oil-contaminated soil. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 2006;169(1-4):207-220. |
X832428 (Final) |
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Zambrano L, Sublette K, Duncan K, Thoma G. Probabilistic reliability modeling for oil exploration & production (E&P) facilities in the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. Risk Analysis 2007;27(5):1323-1333. |
X832428 (Final) |
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Progress and Final Reports:
Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
X832428C001 Effective Stormwater and Sediment Control During Pipeline Construction Using a New Filter Fence Concept
X832428C002 Paraffin Control in Oil Wells Using Anaerobic Microorganisms
X832428C003 Fiber Rolls as a Tool for Re-Vegetation of Oil-Brine Contaminated Watersheds
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.