Biological Treatment of Hazardous Wastes

Biological treatment—using nature’s bacteria and fungi—sometimes costs as little as 10-20% as incineration. Wastes in any form—solid, aqueous and gaseous—can be treated biologically. The treatment has six forms—by applying the waste on the soil (land treatment), composting, liquid/solid treatment, using soil to filter gases, in-situ treatment, and conventional municipal/industrial wastewater teatment. The process, and some applications of the first four are described. Views of officials with EPA and the American Petroleum Institute are reported on an upcoming regulation requiring incineration of petroleum refinery waste, unless hazardous components of it are shown not to migrate from the site for as long as they remain hazardous.