The site
A storage terminal on Pelican Island with two large containment pits holding accumulated waste hydrocarbons in the soil.
The chain lengths were spread almost evenly across C6 to C12, C12 to C28 and C28 to C36. That spread is harder to treat than a single fraction, because no one organism handles all of it. A blend has to work on the light ends and the heavy ends at the same time.
Where we came in
The terminal had already run a competitor product for sixty days. We were called in after the first round of TPH testing, with Pit 3 still above 96,000 mg/kg and the heavy fractions untouched. That is the condition we started from.
Every laboratory figure, including naphthalene
| Measurement | Pit 2 | Pit 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Total petroleum hydrocarbons, mg/kg | ||
| Before any treatment | 40,060 | 93,870 |
| After 60 days on a competitor product | 14,140 | 96,900 |
| After 30 days on our treatment | 2,070 | 1,221 |
| Naphthalene, mg/kg | ||
| Before any treatment | 2,080 | 3,450 |
| After 30 days on our treatment | 153 | 307 |
Both pits below 2,100 mg/kg in thirty days. Treated where they sat, with no excavation, no haulage and no interruption to the terminal.
What we did
An ecologically friendly surfactant solution to mobilise the heavy fractions, followed by a hydrocarbon-degrading microbial blend. The work was done in place. No excavation, no haulage, no landfill, and no interruption to the terminal.
What this does and does not show
It shows that a surfactant and microbial approach moved a heavy, mixed-chain contamination in place, on a timescale a working terminal can live with, on ground where earlier treatment had not brought the heavy fractions down.
It does not show that every site behaves this way. Pit conditions, temperature, moisture and the chain profile all change the answer. That is why every job starts with a conversation about your site rather than a quote from a brochure.
How the work was done. Delivered through our partnered Houston microbiology and genomics laboratory, which has run this class of work for more than thirty-five years. RAD Microbes LLC was founded in 2024. Contamination levels were measured by laboratory TPH testing at baseline, after the competitor product, and thirty days after ours.
Start with a discovery call
Every site is different, and a short conversation tells us far more than a sample does. Talk us through what you are dealing with and we will tell you honestly whether biology is the right answer for it. If it is not a fit, we will say so on the call.
Call +1 949 333 9072