Gulf Of Mexico

It’s such a shame what’s happened in the Gulf of Mexico, we all know it’s the largest spill ever and tragedies like this will happen again, until the day we finally stop using oil.

But what i’d like to know is this:

Have we learnt from previous spills?

After speaking to Terry Hazen (top US bioremediation authority) it was understood that after the Amoco Cadiz and the Exxon Valdez spills, the untreated areas actually recovered quicker than the areas where dispersant’s were used!!

Amoco Cadiz

The dispersant’s themselves are highly toxic and although they help break up the oil, they actually destroy the Eco system and prevent nature from doing its thing. In one of his presentations he states that the areas they left untreated, cleaned themselves up in approx. 5 years.

Now what i’m going to say may shock you, like it did me, the treated areas (i.e. detergents and dispersant’s), were ecologically studied at 10 and 20 years after the spill; and have still not recovered from the contamination of the chemicals used in the clean-up!!

Exxon Valdez Victims

Now one of the first things BP did when this latest tragedy started in the Gulf of Mexico, was to boom the area and get the chemical dispersant’s in the water.

I’m not going to go on now, because it’s annoying me, but when the dust has settled I will contact Terry and ask him about the chemicals they used and about his role (if any) in the clean – up operation.

But I anticipate some delay in his response!!

Respect and Peace!

@dam

Mushroom Clean-up-date

A little time ago I wrote about the amazing Earth healing powers of Mycelium or mushroom roots.

I said I’d dig about and report back my findings – well here’s what I’ve found out so far.

Paul Stamets carried out an experiment to clean up toxic waste using oyster mushroom spores; they created heaps that were contaminated with diesel and oils, they introduced bacteria to one heap and mycelium to another and also left one to it’s own devices. The results where compelling. The two heaps that didn’t have mycelium added, just turned into a putrid sludge, yet the one with the oyster mushroom spores added, after a couple of months had totally transformed into a mound of life. As the mycelium began to take hold and the mushrooms sprouted, then too came the insects and with that the birds and their droppings seeded the mound and the cycle of life began to take. All the while the mycelium was turning the contaminants (hydro-carbons) into life giving fungal sugars (carbohydrates).

Oyster Mushrooms Dealing with Contaminated waste

But how then does this become a possible solution to the oil pits in Ecuador and anywhere else for that matter? Well an oil pit is vastly different in make-up to a mound of earth that’s contaminated with oil and diesel; so if  you where to employ mycelium,  you’d have to create the right conditions for it to prosper. Firstly, i’d extract the main body of oil from the pit and take it somewhere to be intensely treated. Then in the remaining bowl I think you have to add considerable amounts of organic matter and fibrous material e.g. soil, grass, leaves, paper, wood shavings etc. etc. to create a giant compost heap. Then add your mycelium and let nature do it’s thing and it would of course take along time to completely re-mediate or clean-up the pit.

Now these are just my ideas and thoughts based on what I’ve learned over the last month or so. They are not endorsed by anyone and are totally unproven! But it does seem like a reasonable approach and it certainly would not cause anymore harm to the effected areas.

I have the words of Terry Hazen, one of the worlds leading bioremediation authorities, ringing in my ears, he said “Having lived in the tropics  (Puerto Rico) and studied petroleum biodegradation, it should degrade quite readily, unless there is some other limiting parameter.” It appears surprisingly that the Earth is more than capable of cleaning up our mess (it’s had some practice i guess), and it’s commonplace to see toxic pits become a luscious oasis of life again. But in Ecuador there appears to be this limiting parameter that Terry refers to, so maybe there is a need to think outside the box in this circumstance.

Unfortunately, these pits are at the center of a protracted legal case that is really hampering any credible clean-up operation and is the result of even more wasteful human activity!

Respect and Peace

@dam

Seeking Knowledge

It never stops surprising me, just how clever and dedicated some people are! In my quest for knowledge regarding Bioremediation, i stumbled upon a fantastic and somewhat technical presentation about this subject. It was given by, who i now know to be one of the worlds leading experts in this field, Terry Hazen.

Terry Hazen - Earth Champion!

Now this guys knows his potatoes! Hearing his presentation really helped me understand 1: the process, 2: how amazing nature really is 3: how dedicated this fella is, it’s very humbling.

Anyway, me being me, i fired him an email on Sunday, asking him if he was aware of the mess that Texaco left Ecuador in (see previous posts). Also what his thoughts are on Paul Stamets claims about the use of Mycelium in the bioremediation process.

In a moment i’ll share with you his reply, but i want you to understand something, i know i’m quite cheeky in asking this extremely busy man for some of his time; yet he still saw to reply first thing Monday morning! Now that’s the mark of a classy fella in my book. I explained that i wasn’t part of any organisation or business and that i was just a concerned citizen. I find that remarkable dedication and people like Terry are inspirational to me, not at all  concerned with what was in it for him.

Terry’s Email:

Adam,

Thank you for your email.  Several years ago Chevron did talk to me about their Ecuador problems; however, as they became more involved with litigation they stopped all contact with us!!!  I have followed remotely some of the activities in Ecuador and I must say I am amazed at all of the problems they are having with the cleanup.  Having lived in the tropics  (Puerto Rico) and studied petroleum biodegradation, it should degrade quite readily, unless there is some other limiting parameter.  Attached is a recent study in Nigeria.  The fight between the Ecuador government and Chevron does not seem to allow the scientific community or even rational minds to get involved!!  Our current work in the Tropics suggest that bacteria are dominant in soil communities and that they can break anything down (even lignin) at the fastest rates known (see our recent paper attached).

Best regards,

Terry

So he’s even sent me to 2 PDFs to help me understand the work he and his team is doing, i only had a chance for a glance at the moment, but i’m looking forward to reading them fully; although there’s some heavy chemical names in there, phew!

You’ll notice his remarks about the legal bullshit that’s preventing a proper clean-up operation – how frustrating and senseless, just think of the locals being poisoned by these pits!!

So what’s the point of this post, other than to remark how amazing some people are to me, well i think it’s this: If you don’t ask you don’t get! If you’re polite, friendly and a little cheeky, you’d be surprised where it can take you.

I’d like to say a very big thank you to Terry for making my day special – Thank You Sir!!

Respect and Peace!

@dam

Eco Warrior…….Why not?

Today I joined the WWF

I’ve been considering this for a little while, but watching the ‘Ross Kemp in the Amazon’ documentaries was ‘the straw’ so to speak.

I’ve been doing some research into Bioremediation and I’m going to contact the WWF and Greenpeace to find out what they know about this interesting field of science.

Interestingly, we have just up the road a mushroom farm, who very shortly will be getting a visit from this newly formed ‘Eco – Warrior’……lol.

The way I see it, if we don’t get involved now, then before long it’ll be TOO late!!!

Children will look at their parents and wonder why we didn’t love them enough to protect their world for their future!!

It appals me to see what we have done to this beautiful planet! There is a very real risk that the planet may become so polluted and toxic; that it cannot actually support human life. Now that I have kids, I understand how important it is to get involved and at least try to be part of the solution and stop being part of the problem!

Respect and Peace!

@dam

Warning!!

Disturbing Images of the human Blight of this Planet!

Deforestation

Gorilla Hunting!

Whaling

Elephant Tusks

Oil Spill

Seal Kills

Desert in the making!

Mining

Japanese river of Blood

Melting ice caps

What are we doing!!!!