REMEDIATION OF THE IMPACTS CAUSED BY THEPETROLEUM SPILL IN THE LAGOON OF PAPALLACTA INECUADOR–SOUTH AMERICA

摘要

An affected area of approximate 7.2 ha (hectares) was cleaned andrnremediated after an oil spill of about 22,000 barrels at the Lagoonrnof Papallacta. The spill was due to the breakage of the trans-rnEcuadorian pipeline. Shores, sediment, water of rivers and thernLagoon of Papallacta were decontaminated. The hydrocarbons inrnthe water were extracted by skimming, adsorption, absorption andrnfiltration processes. The contaminated sediments of the bottom ofrnthe lagoon were extracted by suction, dehydrated and transportedrnto landfarming stations for their bioremediation using endemicrnmicroorganisms. The initial analyses of total hydrocarbon concentrationrnin the shores of the rivers and the lagoon oscillatedrnbetween 40,245 and 85,879 milligrams/Liter (mg/L), 4,500 mg/Kgrnin sediments of the bottom of lagoon and 89 mg/L in the water ofrnthe lagoon. The works of remediation were subdivided by logisticrnconvenience in five sections. The cleaning and remediation includedrnthe bed of the rivers, rocks, shores of the Lagoon of Papallacta,rnvegetal material and contaminated water. The remediationrnreduced the petroleum hydrocarbon levels in grounds to less thanrn1,000 mg/Kg, in sediments of the lagoon below 500 mg/Kg and inrnthe water of the lagoon below 0,5 mg/L. The values of aromaticrnpolycyclic hydrocarbons in the lagoon water and sedimentsrnreached values of less than 1 mg/L. All these values are establishedrnas the permissible limits for sensible ecosystems and water forrnhuman consumption. The recovery of the ecosystem was confirmedrnby the presence of benthic invertebrates in the lagoon, which atrnthe beginning of the cleaning activities were absent. Among thernorganisms recorded were bivalva, gastropods, nematodes, andrninsect larvae.rnThe remediation in the lagoon area was done without chemicalrnor biological agents.