ERM has conducted a world-wide survey of countries to determine their regulatory positions on biostimulation and bioaugmentation. The purpose of the survey is to help corporations with facilities in various countries perform remediation using innovative technologies under many different regulatory frameworks, says Maureen C. Leahy of ERM. The survey covers North America, South America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Results show that there is global acceptance of bioremediation, with no exceptions. However, the stage of acceptance varies. The first, most basic stage is the state of the regulatory framework in a country. There may be a disconnect between soil and groundwater regulations. Poland has strong guidelines for soil, but weak ones for groundwater, and it is now redeveloping its regulations. China has developed a groundwater protection program to be implemented by 2008. All methods of remediation are allowed in principle in China, but in situ methods generally are not yet being applied. Russia also is in the process of developing a remediation framework.

The next stage is the acceptance of aerobic bioremediation treatments. Malaysia, South Africa and Argentina, for example, accept biopiles and sparge/vent. The third, more advanced stage is acceptance of the anaerobic bioremediation of chlorinated volatile organic compounds using a carbon substrate, which is accepted in Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, Hungary, Belgium, the UK and Taiwan.

The fourth stage, according to Leahy, is the acceptance of in-situ bioaugmentation. Of all the countries surveyed, 60 percent accept bioaugmentation. Of these, 30 percent accept bioaugmentation with a culture imported from abroad (a “foreign bug”); 60 percent accept the use of a domestic microorganism found within the country; and 100 percent accept a microorganism isolated from the site itself. Leahy predicts that this situation will evolve rapidly. A common concern about bioaugmentation in all countries is the introduction of non-indigenous microorganisms to a site, says Leahy.

The survey results show that biostimulation is more widely accepted than bioaugmentation. With biostimulation, certain types of amendments, except for carbon substrates, are not accepted by various countries. Some countries resist the use of nitrate as an anaerobic electron acceptor for petroleum sites. Belgium and Brazil, for example, do not want to further impact groundwater with the use of anaerobic electron acceptors. Germany and Japan resist the use of non-naturally occurring bacteria injected into groundwater, but Leahy points out that in the long term, this may become acceptable. The survey results from all countries were remarkably similar in that bioremediation was accepted as long as there were no adverse effects, says Leahy. ERM will use the survey results to support the rapid development of site-specific or country-specific microbial strains for bioaugmentation. Improved data collection, says Leahy, will smooth acceptance of innovative technologies in the new global regime.