The spills can be cleaned up, but the methods in use aren't always efficient, and researchers still aren't sure how they work. David William Graham, assistant professor of civil engineering, and Val H. Smith, acting director of the Environmental Studies Program, are working to make soil restoration as simple and cost effective as possible. Russell Dean Ostermann, KU associate professor of chemical and petroleum engineering, also is contributing to the research. The problem isn't the size of the puddles but their number. According to one estimate, Kansas has more than 10,000 puddles.
Researchers already know ways to clean contaminated soil.
To remove puddles on Kansas farms and elsewhere, researchers encourage the growth of microbes that break down the oil. And they add fertilizers, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, to help return the soil to its pre-spill condition. These techniques have been used for years, but they don't always work as researchers expect. For example, in Alaska, researchers at one contaminated site determined that the soil already had enough nitrogen to feed the breakdown process. For three months, high rates of breakdown occurred, but then it stopped.