Boeing scientists are using a molasses and soybean extract to remove a toxic chemical from the ground at the Santa Susana Field Lab (SSFL), according to a 4-14 article in the Daily News. This cleanup approach is called bioremediation. The article quotes Boeing’s Art Lenox as saying the mixture creates “microorganisms that feed on oxygen and eat up the perchlorate.” To read full Daily News article by Susan Abram, go to: http://www.dailynews.com/ci_14885791?source=email (Thanks to a post by “Probation Diva” on the Yahoo Group, Rocketdyne Information Society for a link to this article.)
Posted by Janna Orkney
Dances in Rain // Apr 21, 2010 at 9:41 AM
Years ago in the middle 1980’s, I and a group I was involved in, approached state and county people on cleaning toxic waste and pollution. The method involved micro-bacteria since most of the problems were carbon-based material which meant under the right conditions, the micro-bacteria would consume the pollutants. The proposal was not well received. As one respondent said (but not in writing), “We don’t want to eliminate the problem, we need to regulate it.†What I gathered he meant was it would eliminate his job and the people under him.