In this Episode 11, we discuss Pipeline Releases and General Remediation. It's an observation I've made and a topic that I've never understood. On these type of larger scale remediation projects, I've seen Environmental Contractors chose to go with what they think is a less expensive approach of using Microbos (micro-organisms aka bacterial) or Enzymes (man made micro-organisms) because they are cheap when strictly looking at an acquisition cost compared to other types of remediation treatments.

However, looking at it from any other angle, it is clearly the wrong choice to make.

Microbos and/or Enzymes are not very effective and they take a long period of time to have any effectiveness. For this reason, remediation projects drag on and on. This requires on going monitoring and attention. This costs money, so when you add this to the initial acquisition cost and compare it to other alternatives that have a slightly higher initial acquisition cost, but cut the remediation project from months to days, it begins to become more clear that they are not actually cheaper to use.

Add to this the fact that due to the extended period of time to see any effectiveness, that creates opportunities for further spreading of the contamination an it should be even more clear that the alternatives are a better choice.

Now there are the other factors that the longer it take, the worse it is on our environment vs getting it addressed as quickly as possible.

And then the factors of The General Public and Regulators not happy with the length of time its taking and equally if not more important, the Land Owner who the land/property is being leased from, seeing the remediation project being dragged on and on and on.

It would make much more sense to spend a little more money on a more immediate approach, to quickly address the contamination, just make common sense. Although Microbos and/or Enzymes are an acceptable approach, doesn't mean they are a better approach or make most sense. And since economics are always at the forefront of decision making, when all factors are looked at, they are actually not cheaper than other alternatives methods like oxidation options.

Thank You to Our Ongoing Sponsor Hanby Environmental for the continued support of this podcast.

As always, we are always looking for new Remediation Topics. So if you have a topic you'd like addressed on a future podcast or have a question you would like for us to address, please send it in. And if you would like to tell your story and how you relate to The Remediation Industry, let us know.

Reach out via my email address of [email protected].