In research completed on lead contaminated soils, compost was added to city soils containing 1600 ppm of lead, reducing bioavailability by up to 60 percent. The composting process itself has been used to treat contaminated soils. Other military bases have been successful treating explosives contaminated soil through composting. McGill Environmental Systems in Rose Hill, North Carolina, Inc. has been bioremediating soils contaminated with various petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel and industrial fuels. All contaminated soils are excavated and brought to McGill's site, then mixed with manure, wood chips and finished compost for composting.
Bioremediation is done indoors to better control environmental conditions.
The particle size and thorough mixing of the composting components are critical to quality control with respect to uniform, pervasive treatment. He adds that those factors are even more critical as heavier, more difficult to degrade fuels are treated. McGill Environmental always reseeds new batches of contaminated soil with previously bioremediated batches. This provides a supply of microbes specific to the degradation of a specific fuel type. Environmental regulations require the reestablishment of wetlands as a means of improving water quality.