Remediation of oil-contaminated soil in Arctic Climate

Oil spill is a problem in towns in Greenland, where oil is used for heating and transport. The problem may increase in the future with expected oil exploitation in Greenlandic marine areas and related terrestrial activities. Oil undergoes natural microbial degradation in which nutrients, temperature, water content, pE and pH are important factors for the degradation rate. In particular temperature and nutrient availability are challenges in the Arctic, and alternative solutions must be sought if biodegradation is to be implemented as a low-cost and low-tech solution in this region. Experiments have been made with excavated oil-contaminated soil from the Greenlandic town Sisimiut to study different low-tech and low-cost solutions for remediation of oil-contamination