Establishment of a bioremediation facility in South Australia - research and commercial potential

Abstract

Centralised bioremediation facilities are relatively common in the U.S.A., Canada and some parts of Europe. Whilst there is a preference throughout most States in Australia for conducting soil remediations on-site, in some cases this is either technically difficult or hinders rapid development which would recoup remediation costs. Remediation of contaminated soil at a remote facility has a number of additional advantages; it allows increased timescales for achieving minimum residual pollutant levels, reduces individual site preparation costs and increases the potential for conducting longer term research projects. This paper discusses the establishment of a centralised commercial and research bioremediation facility in South Australia, describes ongoing bioremediation projects being undertaken and identifies research needs relevant to ex situ soil bioremediation in the Australasian region.