Oilzapper, the crude oil and oily sludge degrading bacteria consortium, is the only biological answer available to the oil industry in India right now, says Dr Banwari Lal, the TERI microbiologist who developed the consortium.

An application of a mixture of Oilzapper to the oil contaminated site not only saves valuable land, but also cuts down on the cost of construction and maintenance of oil dumping sites and saves the local environment from degradation, he says. The Oilzapper solution comes for less than Rs 800 a tonne, compared with the Rs 2,000-3,000 crore that is spent by refineries in the construction of dumping pits for oil waste.

This bioremediation method has the advantage of treating oil waste at the site itself, reducing the risks that are involved in transporting the oil sludge and waste to a dumping site. Oilzapper speeds up the degradation process by three to four times the natural process, Dr Lal says.

Biotechnological intervention-called bioremediation-has been used worldwide since the 1970s. It acquired global acceptance when the US Environment Protection Agency and the Exxon Company demonstrated its effectiveness on Alaskan beaches contaminated by the Valdez oil spill. Oilzapper is the most eco-friendly and economically viable amongst all currently available methods of sludge management in the country, says Dr Lal.

Bioremediation uses naturally occurring microorganisms to transform harmful substances into non-toxic compounds, and its role in restoring contaminated soils to their original health and thus saving the environment from pollution is highly significant, says Dr Lal.

So far, TERI has demonstrated the efficacy of Oilzapper in several oil contaminated sites by clearing up over 5,000 MT of sludge and another 3,500 MT currently being cleaned up. "We have been able to restore heavily contaminated sludge sites to their original, arable form. And we have observed that the restored sites are totally safe for crops and other vegetation," Dr Lal says.

Oilzapper has been tested by TERI at the sludge sites of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd's (IOCL's) refineries at Barauni, Mathura, Digboi and Guwahati and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd's (BPCL's) refinery at Mumbai, among others.

India's 15 oil refineries generate a huge amount of oily sludge annually. The cumulative sludge, generated over the decades of existence of these refineries, is threatening in its ecological impact, as it will take a few hundred years for the waste to degenerate naturally, points out Dr Lal.

The waste is supposed to be dumped in identified locations in secure pits.

In the US and Europe, these pits are provided with proper linings and a collection system that prevents underground water contamination. However, in India, the oil refineries do not find it viable to construct such pits.

Storing such waste is also ecologically damaging as it exposes the local inhabitants to high levels of toxicity through air and water pollution.

Oil spills at port terminals are also a frequent phenomenon, but go unreported largely. The annual report of the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan has reported oil spills at the ports of Vadinar, Kandla and Haldia amounting to 16,000 cubic metres, 4,000 cubic metres and 5,000 metres, respectively.

The implementation of strict regulatory guidelines by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and state authorities in the near future will change the outlook of the industry, says Dr Lal. Implementation of the guidelines is expected to increase the market of bioremediation of crude oil spills in the country in the coming years, and it is this market that Oilzapper is hoping to capture.