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BIOREMEDIATION OVERVIEW AND WORKPLAN ALTERNATIVES <br /> Years of research and thousands of applications around the <br /> world by government and industry have confirmed that <br /> common, non-pathogenic bacteria and fungi are capable of <br /> the thorough aerobic degradation (mineralization) of many <br /> anthropogenic compounds- including fuel hydrocarbons , <br /> solvents, and some pesticides. As aerobic degradation ends <br /> in the formation of carbon dioxide, minerals, and water, <br /> complete destruction of contaminants may be achieved. In <br /> addition, biological detoxification processes have proven <br /> to be cost effective- frequently affording savings of 30%, <br /> or more, when compared to other treatment and disposal <br /> methods . <br /> The science upon which biological detoxification is based <br /> is itself found upon knowledge of the chemical and physical <br /> changes that occur in compounds (most often petroleum and <br /> petroleum products) which have entered the environment as <br /> pollutants . <br /> While changes in the composition of polluting hydrocarbon <br /> mixtures are both chemically and biologically induced, <br /> biological (microbial ) degradation plays a major role in <br /> this process (known as weathering) . Although the complete <br /> breakdown of hydrocarbon materials into carbon dioxide, <br /> water, and minerals is theoretically possible under <br /> virtually all circumstances, petroleum hydrocarbons are <br /> very complex mixtures containing large number of alicyclic, <br /> aromatic, and other compounds . Gasoline, for instance, may <br /> contain 200 such compounds and crude oil many thousands. <br /> As each of these compounds possess distinct physical and <br /> chemical characteristics , they differ in their capacity to <br /> serve as microbial substrates (i .e. be utilized by <br /> microorganisms as sources of carbon and energy) within a <br /> given environment . In addition, the physical state of the <br /> pollutants, environmental temperature, availability of <br /> oxygen and nutrients (particularly nitrogen, phosphorus , <br /> potassium, and/or iron) significantly impact the rate of <br /> pollutant degradation. <br /> Clearly, the fate of fuel hydrocarbon contaminants within a <br /> given habitat will depend on the set of abiotic parameters <br /> particular to that habitat, with the interactions of <br />