Patent ID: 8403040

Claim:
A method comprising the steps of: a) treating a subterranean site in a zone adjacent to a water injection well with a detoxifying agent to detoxify the zone wherein, prior to the treatment, corrosion inhibitors and their degradation products have been adsorbed into the zone and have accumulated to concentrations that are toxic to microorganisms used in microbial enhanced oil recovery and bioremediation processes, and thereby have formed a toxic zone, wherein the detoxifying agent is also a dispersing agent selected from the group consisting of hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, hydrofluoric acid, acetic acid and oxalic acid; and b) adding an inoculum of microorganisms for microbial enhanced oil recovery to the water injection well wherein the inoculum of microorganisms comprises Thauera aromatica (ATCC9497); wherein the corrosion inhibitor comprises an organic compound selected from the group consisting of organic phosphonates, organic nitrogen compounds, organic acids and their salts and esters, carboxylic acids and their salts and esters, sulfonic acids and their salts.