Manila Bay waters can help clean oil spill, biologist says

By NEREO C. LUJAN ILOILO CITY - Oil-polluted seawater from Manila Bay can help cleanse the shores of Guimaras Island from the oil slick oozing out of the sunken tanker MT Solar 1, a Filipino marine microbiologist based at the University of Tsukuba in Japan said. Dr. Terence Philip Talorete said introducing seawater from Manila Bay and other oil-contaminated sites to the coast of Guimaras can inoculate the area with bacteria that have the potential of biodegrading oil. In a research he did in 1998 while still a graduate student, Talorete said he found out that the waters off Manila Bay contains as much as 150,000 oil degrading bacteria per 100 ml of seawater, which is roughly 10 percent of the total bacterial population. Since pristine environments like the Guimaras waters are most probably devoid of so-called oil-degrading bacteria, Talorete proposed the introduction of seawater from Manila Bay and other oil-contaminated sites. Using bacteria and other microorganisms to return the environment altered by contaminants to its original condition is a process called bioremediation. "Bioremediation has been tested and used during the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska and results showed that treated beaches became essentially oil-free within two weeks," Talorete wrote in a paper titled “Marine Oil Spill Bioremediation." A native of Bacolod City, another area currently threatened by the Guimaras oil spill, Talorete sent his paper to the www.projectsunrise.org, a website dedicated to the oil spill disaster. The full article can be viewed from the said site. The tanker, carrying about two million liters of bunker oil, sank off the southern coasts of Guimaras on August 11. Hundreds of fishing families have been displaced since. In his paper, Talorete wrote: “The most important star in this bioremediation show is the hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria, which, unfortunately is most probably limited in the oil-contaminated sites of Guimaras. It would take months before their numbers increase substantially in response to the overwhelming oil. One way to expedite their impact is introduce them to the oil spill sites." Manila Bay as convenient source And Manila Bay, which has been constantly oil-polluted for decades, is a convenient source for this seawater. “If seawater from this and other oil-contaminate sites is introduced to the inundated coasts of Guimaras, we would essentially be inoculating the area with these natural degraders and benefit from their natural propensities. When the oil is gone, most of these bacteria also die out," Talorete added. Talorete’s thesis, “Marine Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacteria from the Manila Bay North Harbor and their Bioremediation Potential" earned for him the Outstanding Graduate Student Award from the Institute of Biology of the University of the Philippines in 1998. He earned his doctorate in Agricultural Sciences, with specialization in Animal Cell Biology, from the University of Tsukuba in 2003. He now works there as research scientist working on various bioprospecting projects. “Results from my experiments back then have shown that when these bacteria act in consortium under optimum laboratory conditions, as much as 50 percent of the saturate fraction of heavy oil can be degraded in two weeks," Talorete said. He noted that temperature in the Philippines hovers with the range of 20o-30o C, which is one of the requirements necessary for an effective bioremediation response. To comply with the theoretical oxygen demand of 3.5 grams of oil oxidized per gram of oxygen, Talorete said tilling and loosening the oil-contaminated sand would considerably help. He also proposed the introduction of slow-release fertilizer to the contaminated site because oil-degrading bacteria need nitrogen and phosphates to survive, apart from carbon that is present in oil and fuel. However, there is also need to ensure that fertilizer would not pollute the environment. Talorete said one study showed that for the biodegradation of 1 gram of oil, the needed optimal concentration of nitrogen and phosphate are 11 and 2 milligrams, respectively. “Nature can heal itself from the damage caused by man. Now, more than ever, we need nature's help in cleaning up the coastlines of Guimaras," he said. -GMANews.TV