The Use of Bioremediation Technology on Oil-Contaminated Soil

Abstract

The demand of oil not only has contributed the economy and foreign exchange of a country, it has also caused environmental pollution. The negative impact caused by the oil spills were due to the hydrocarbon compound or Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) contaminates the environment. Oil contamination, despite of low concentration of hydrocarbon, affects the smell and taste of the groundwater. One of the alternatives to overcome environmental contamination from oil that is environmental-friendly is with bioremediation technology. The rehabilitation efforts of the oil-contaminated environment biologically with the bioremediation technology has an advantage as it is more environmental-friendly and the operational cost is more affordable than physics and chemical recovery techniques. This research utilizes study of literature and SWOT analysis to comprehend the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the use bioremediation. The outcome of analysis illustrated that bioremediation could reduce the TPH value as the bacteria could decompose the oil where it generally is difficult to be degraded. However, there is also potential use of microorganism utilized on bioremediation to mutate thus creating a new and unknown product that could harm the environment. The implementation of bioremediation technology examined by sustainable indicators still have weaknesses and threats that could be further examined so that the use of bioremediation could be implemented as one of the ways to have a sustainable oil spill cleanup.