BIOREMEDIATION OF OIL-CONTAMINATED SOIL IN KUWAIT .1. LANDFARMING TO REMEDIATE OIL-CONTAMINATED SOIL

During the Gulf Crisis, the State of Kuwait was subjected to hazards c aused by the oil well fires. The discharged oil formed over 300 oil la kes, covering land areas in excess of 49 km(2). In addition, deposits from aerial fallout covered massive areas of Kuwait's desert soil. It has been widely recognized that the heavily oil-contaminated soil must be remediated in order to avoid total damage to the land, water ecosy stems, and/or the eventual release of hazardous particulate compositio ns to the atmosphere. A large number of diverse technological options were being considered for the remediation of contaminated soil. Biorem ediation techniques involving enhanced landfarming was selected and ev aluated at pilot scale. The experiments were initiated in November 199 2 at the Burgan oil field in which 16 landfarming plots of 120 m(2) ea ch were constructed The study continued for 18 months, during which ti me petroleum hydrocarbon concentration, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbo n (PAH), and heavy metals were monitored regularly. The result obtaine d showed that landfarming treatment resulted in more than 80% reductio n of oil contamination within 15 months. The treatment also resulted i n a substantial reduction of the PAHs concentrations.