Page 94 - Microbes News Today

But obama administration officials are voicing cautious optimism about the operations long-term benefits. >> the hope is that we will be containing all of the oil that comes out of that well by the end of july, but it is obviously to kill the well will take a little bit longer. >> that little longer meaning late july, perhaps mid august before bp is able to finish drilling the first of two relief wells, allowing the company to plug the high pressure leak with mud and see intercept. meantime, new...

From the water there so far. the same waters that overtopped the levees and flooded from hurricane katrina. winds from hurricane alex being blamed for pushing the crude to lake pontchartrain. the huge estuary that forms the crescent citys northern boundary. the area having been fortunate that strong winds have been largely absent this summer until now. to the west as we mentioned more tar balls washing up in texas for a second consecutive day. those winds are hampering the cleanup efforts causin...

Officials saying they have pulled more than 1,600 tar balls from the water so far. winds from hurricane alex being blamed for pushing the crude to lake pontchartrain. the area having been fortunate that strong winds have been largely absent this summer until now. to the west as we mentioned more tar balls washing up in texas for a second consecutive days. those winds are hampering the cleanup efforts causing rough sea making it difficult to skim the waters surface. a company in canada having hit...

Degrade it. they take it apart molecule by molecule. >> you start off with a very small concentration. >> reporter: this is one of several companies pitching a type of oil eating bacteria to help cleanup the gulf. their product m u.n. ox is made from naturally occurring microbes that break down oil that are concentrated, fermented and sprayed on the oil. its commonly used to cleanup toxic industrial accidents, jet fuel spills. oil-eating bacteria was used to help cleanup the alaska shoreline in ...

>> they are natures little housekeepers. they eat it as a food source, degrade it. they take it apart molecule by momolecule. >> reporter: this is one of several companies pitching a type of oil-eating bacteria to help cleanup the gulf. the prod subject is make from naturally occurring microbes that are concentrated, fermented and sprayed on the oil. its commonly used to cleanup toxic industrial accidents, jet fuel spills and brown fields. oil-eating bacteria was used to help cleanup the alaska ...

Hay, hair, absorbent booms, containment booms, dispersants and barges have been seen as a possible well. there is one technique we have not seen yet but could see soon. oil eating back tier yanchts bacteria. they degrade it molecule by molecule. >> start off with a very small concentration. >> biotechniques in sarasota, florida is one of several companies pitching a type of oil eating bacteria to help clean up the gulf. their product munox is made from natural occurring microbes that break down ...

>> reporter: floridas governor, charlie crist, so interested, he visited the sarasota lab. >> very impressed with what i have seen. >> reporter: from what he read, hes so convinced they are the answer, he set up a website, expounding the virtues of oil-eating bacteria. >> because i care. i became a proponent of this because i saw that this technique has worked in the past. >> reporter: bugs naturally occurring in prince william sound did work after "exxon valdez" when variety liesed with nitroge...

Biosurfactants to combat the oil spill. but theyre not fast enough. we need to produce them, surround the oil droplets and encourage the microbes to grow around the -- >> the biosurfactants, you say it doesnt work fast enough on its own. >> we can accelerate the process greatly. that kind of data, control experiment versus actually putting in the dispersants in a real situation doesnt exist. we dont have the data. but the key is, instead of using these dangerous chemicals that, in fact, kill mar...

That nature has some terrific mechanisms for cleaning oil. and what we have to do is to help nature out here by providing the right molecules. so the critical thing here is microbes produce biosurfactants. nature has fantastic mechanisms in place -- >> you told me on a couple of molecules and biosurfactants. are these already in the water or do we need to put it in the water to help nature along? >> we need to put these molecules in. nature is not quick enough to produce these molecules. they do...

Back to us saying that microbes had not been, quote, required to meet operational needs. what that means they wouldnt say. the use of microbes hasn been ruled in or out but remains, they said, potential tool if the situation dictates. some scientists say lab microbes might work. toolishing off remnant shore oil. in open water would simply get washed or blown off. >> we tested about 20 of these for e.p.a. and essentially all of them claimed that-to-have efficacy on open water. we couldnt get any ...