• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.50-56
• /
• 2010

Oil contamination soil has been one of the most environmental social issues for decades in the inside and outside of country. The law of soil environmental preservation was carried out in the 1990s and the government controlled not only soil environment management and the remediation of contaminated soil but also promoted the development of remedial technology and cleanup business of contaminated soil by national policy. In addition to agriculture areas, the main oil contaminated sites are a gas station, oil reservoir, petro-chemical complex, site of railway carriage base and military camp. The contamination-frequency of agriculture area and effect sites are low but it has significantly important area on account of producing food for human beings. Therefore, we should be concerned about oil contamination damage of agriculture area. The oil contamination damage of agriculture area influenced drop of birth and breeding since the oil directly adheres to seeds and farm products even diffusion of contaminated soil to cultivation area. The studies of the crops and the food vegetation has not enough detailed data caused by the incident of oil contamination. This study investigated the effect of oil in germination and growth of selected plant seeds. In this study, we try to verify whether the oil contamination by accidents on farmland influenced the damage of farm produce and the mutual relation both oil contaminated soil or the vegetation of crops. The impact of oil on plant development was followed by phytotoxicity assessments. The plants exhibited visual symptoms of stress, growth reduction and perturbations in developmental parameters. The increase of the degree of pollution induced more marked effects in plants, likely because of the physical effects of oil. The relationships between the phytotoxicity contents of plants and growth reduction suggest a chemical toxicity of fuel oil. In addition, while cleaned up the contaminated soil under the standard of contaminated soil we examined it was suitable for region standard and it may have practical possibility for fill material of construction of afforestation and molding soil of landfill.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.57-66
• /
• 2001

Marine organisms such as fish (Sebastes schlegeli) and mussels were cultured in sea water tanks placed at Dukpo area which was contaminated by the two oil spill accidents. Results showed that PAHs concentrations in flesh tissue were higher than in fish fiver. This was explained by the cytochrome P45O 1A induction in fish limier after PAHs exposure. Other studies showed that higher PAHs levels were detected in mussels cultures in oil contaminated area than in control site. From these results, we concluded that Dukpo area is still polluted by oil including PAHs and it takes a long time to recover of oil contamination after the oil spill accidents.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.31-39
• /
• 1997

Between 40,000 and 60,000 liters of light oil were spilled when an underground pipe broke at a newly constructed landfill site in coastal area, Korea. Methods were presented to examine the subsurface distribution of the contaminants in hydrocarbon-contaminated soil. As results, large quantities of oil and grease were found to have migrated horizontally at the site. Oil and grease plume at concentrations of 38-88 mg/kg was formed horizontally through silty sand with gravel fill and the vertical movement of the contaminants was thought to be limited to groundwater level between 2 and 4 m corresponding to sea water level. Right after finding the leakage area, the early action of excavation and pumping out the mixture of groundwater and oil was taken and it was proved to be very effective for preventing further contamination. Two months after the leakage, oil and grease in sea water sample near contaminated area was not detectable.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.18 no.12
• /
• pp.1966-1974
• /
• 2008

A typical tropical soil from the northeast of Brazil, where an important terrestrial oil field is located, was accidentally contaminated with a mixture of oil and saline production water. To study the bioremediation potential in this area, molecular methods based on PCR-DGGE were used to determine the diversity of the bacterial communities in bulk and in contaminated soils. Bacterial fingerprints revealed that the bacterial communities were affected by the presence of the mixture of oil and production water, and different profiles were observed when the contaminated soils were compared with the control. Halotolerant strains capable of degrading crude oil were also isolated from enrichment cultures obtained from the contaminated soil samples. Twenty-two strains showing these features were characterized genetically by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) and phenotypically by their colonial morphology and tolerance to high NaCl concentrations. Fifteen ARDRA groups were formed. Selected strains were analyzed by 16S rDNA sequencing, and Actinobacteria was identified as the main group found. Strains were also tested for their growth capability in the presence of different oil derivatives (hexane, dodecane, hexadecane, diesel, gasoline, toluene, naphthalene, o-xylene, and p-xylene) and different degradation profiles were observed. PCR products were obtained from 12 of the 15 ARDRA representatives when they were screened for the presence of the alkane hydroxylase gene (alkB). Members of the genera Rhodococcus and Gordonia were identified as predominant in the soil studied. These genera are usually implicated in oil degradation processes and, as such, the potential for bioremediation in this area can be considered as feasible.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.43 no.2
• /
• pp.166-173
• /
• 2010

Objectives: On December 7, 2007, the Hebei Spirit oil tanker spilled out 12,547 kl of crude oil on the Yellow Sea 10 km away from the cost of Taean Province, Korea. As the coastline has been contaminated, local residents have been exposed to crude oil. Because the residents were showing many symptoms, we investigated the acute health effects of this oil spill on them. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study consisting of the heavy and moderately oil soaked area in Taean and the lightly oil soaked area in Seocheon. Ten seashore villages were selected from each area, and 10 male and female adults were selected from each village. We interviewed the subjects using a structured questionnaire on the characteristics of residents, the cleanup activities, the perception of oil hazard, depression and anxiety, and the physical symptoms. The odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The logistic regression model was adjusted for age, gender, education, smoking, the perception of oil hazard and anxiousness. Results: The more highly contaminated the area, the more likely it was for residents to be engaged in cleanup activities and have a greater chance of exposure to oil. The indexes of anxiety and depression were higher in the heavy and moderately oil soaked areas. The increased risks of headache, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, tingling of limb, hot flushing, sore throat, cough, runny nose, shortness of breath, itchy skin, rash, and sore eyes were significant. Conclusions: The results suggest that exposure to crude oil is associated with various acute physical symptoms. Long-term investigation is required to monitor the residents' health.

• 한국방재학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2008.02a
• /
• pp.421-423
• /
• 2008

The development of remediation technologies in the contaminated coastal area from oil spill is essential for solving environmental disaster. Many countries including USA, France and United Kingdom have tried to make novel remediation techniques and predict oil dispersion in the ocean and coastal line by using their own models. To develop new technology of remediation, this research in advance was carried out the status of domestic and international remediation technologies and tried to suggest future research plan for developing new remediation technologies considering geographical characteristics of Korea peninsula.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
• /
• 2003.09a
• /
• pp.148-151
• /
• 2003

Soil washing was applied as a supplementary step of soil remediation at a petroleum oil contaminated site. A soil washing system was designed, assembled, and operated at the site. A field screening method with PetroFlagTM was adopted at the site to find the exact boundary of contaminated area as soil excavation progressed and to verify the concentration of treated soil. The system operation showed the cleanup efficiency of 90% at the compatible cost compared to other methods.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
• /
• 2003.09a
• /
• pp.536-539
• /
• 2003

This study area has been contaminated by oils. To identify contaminated ranges and to assess the possibility of contamination dispersion, monitoring wells were installed and slug test, field soil permeability test, automatic or manual measurement of groundwater table, and groundwater quality analyses in field and laboratory were performed. In addition, a groundwater modeling program was used to assess the possibility of oil contamination dispersion, based on field data and groundwater quality data. The results showed that concentration of oil contaminants in groundwater have been decreased by dispersion and adsorption.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.12 no.7
• /
• pp.783-789
• /
• 2003

This study was conducted to reuse the rice straw ash as washing agent for oil contaminated soils. The results are summarized as follows. The physical characteristics of rice straw before and after burning were as follows ; In case of burning rice straw 1g, the rice straw ash was generated 0.14g and pH was changed neutrality into alkali(pH 10.9) and specific surface area was increased to five times and particle distribution was corresponded to fine silt.(under 0.05mm) The physical characteristics of rice straw ash were Carbon 10.9%, Hydrogen 1.5%, Oxygen 23.4%, Nitrogen 5.2%, Sulfate 1.2% and chemical characteristics were Si 189.2ppm, Ca 10.2ppm, Mg 4.7ppm. Oil cleanup ratio by pH variation were about 40∼50% of initial concentration of oil by pH 10∼11. As the result of cleanup comparative experiment, the rice straw ash was about 20∼30%, the tritonX-100 about 40∼50% of washing efficiency, and then in the future it will be possibility of substitute washing agent.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.28-34
• /
• 2005

The aim of this article is to assess the application characteristics of the site by remediating oil-contaminated area using DSB (Deep-site Biopile) system. In the contaminated area, the soil was composed of penetrable sand and the leaked oil was spread widely (total 7,201 cubic meters) through 2.5 meter deep underground water flow. DSB system was operated for 30 minutes intervals for 24 hours in a day (30 minutes opεration and 30 minutes stop). To check contamination level change in the contaminated area after DSB system was operated, samples were taken. The result from the site shows that BTEX/TPH contamination level was dropped 50% after 30-day operation of DSB system, and that contamination level was dropped below contamination level check standard after 165 days and the remediation was completed. Unlike traditional biological remediation methods DSB system could efficiently process soil and water which were contaminated by high levels of oil compounds.