BIOREMEDIATION OF DAMAGED DESERT ENVIRONMENT USING THE WINDROW SOIL PILE SYSTEM IN KUWAIT

A number of diverse technological options are being considered for the remediation of contaminated soil in Kuwait. A bioremediation techniqu e involving the use of composting soil piles was selected among the mo st appropriate methods and evaluated at pilot scale. The experiment wa s initiated in November 1992 at the Burgan oil field in which soil pil es were constructed from the contaminated soil after amendment with ne cessary soil additives. The piles were subjected to regular: irrigatio n and turning over and a monitoring program including monthly soil sam ple collection from each pile in which the petroleum hydrocarbon conce ntration, PAHs, microbial population, and dry substances were measured . The results obtained showed that the windrow soil pile system result ed in a significant reduction of oil contamination within 10 months. T his paper describes the technology used and summarizes the results obt ained. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.