In almost every case, the site cleanup process was initiated by first enriching cultures of microbes taken from the site itself. In one study, a contractor took enriched cultures from one site to another and did a controlled trial on the effect of these cultures on biodegradation. He found no effect from adding the enriched culture. Later analysis showed that the waste site already had a substantial population of these microbes, explaining the lack of effect. Every speaker stressed that because each waste site is unique, each must be evaluated and then treated according to the specific soil conditions found.
Microbes are capable of detoxifying a wide variety of human-made chemicals.
This process can occur in treatment facilities and also in soil. This capacity can be enhanced, transferred, and exploited to help in detoxifying hazardous wastes. Along with other developing technologies, it will offer us possibilities for detoxifying hazardous wastes on-site at minimal cost.