Numbers of protozoa in the subsurface of aviation gasoline and jet fuel spill areas at a Coast Guard base at Traverse City, Mich., were determined. Boreholes were drilled in an uncontaminated location, in contaminated but untreated parts of the fuel plumes, and in the aviation gasoline source area undergoing H2O2 biotreatment. Protozoa were found to occur in elevated numbers in the unsaturated zone, where fuel vapors mixed with atmospheric oxygen, and below the layer of floating fuel, where uncontaminated groundwater came into contact with fuel. Numbers of protozoa in some contaminated areas equalled or exceeded those found in surface soil. The abundance of protozoa in the biotreatment area was high enough that it would be expected to significantly reduce the bacterial community that was degrading the fuel. (Copyright (c) 1993, American Society for Microbiology.)