Oil-Eating Microbes Sprayed on Gulf Oil Slick in Experiment

Microbes began eating their way through an oil slick Friday as officials counted on an experimental method to help with the cleanup from the wrecked Norwegian tanker Mega Borg.

“If it works in the sea like it works in (the) laboratory, we’re going to solve the problem of oil spills in this country,” said Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, who has promoted the use of microbes.

However, the concept is receiving mixed reviews in the scientific community. “I think snake oil would work as well as bacteria,” said Richard Scalan, a research scientist at the University of Texas Marine Science Center. “A lot of politics are involved in this whole thing.”

Although researchers have known for years that bacteria are capable of eating oil, many are skeptical that the technique can be used on large spills, which must be consumed quickly before they reach shore.

The scientists fear that additional bacteria may serve only to break down oil into more toxic byproducts. They add that special strains of bacteria may not be necessary, because similar microbes are present in the oceans and are limited only by available nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus.

Officials aboard a 41-foot Coast Guard boat sprayed about 100 pounds of bacteria concentrated in a dry powder on a square acre in the Gulf of Mexico that was intermittently covered by oil.

The bacteria were applied only to a small section of the 30-mile spill, situated about 60 miles off Galveston. Officials said the slick could deposit tar balls on Galveston beaches by today.

Bioremediation uses naturally occurring bacteria that have been bred as super-eaters to break down oil into harmless fatty acids that later are eaten by marine life, said Carl Oppenheimer, who developed the process.

Meanwhile, the fire aboard the tanker was finally extinguished Friday, nearly a week after it had begun with a shattering explosion.

Observers said no flames or smoke could be seen coming from the Mega Borg, but the Coast Guard said that firefighters continued to stand by in case the still-hot ship reignited its cargo of Angolan crude oil.