Diana Natalia Zamudio Obando

Student number: 201515439

23 of September of 2019

English 9A Leng 1159-01

Landfarming an alternative and a solution for oil spills in Colombia

Abstract

In different parts of Colombia there are oil pipelines that have been subjected to multiple

attacks. Due to the attacks, ICP Ecopetrol and the Universidad de los Andes worked together

to find a solution to the oil spills caused in these attacks. The oil spills produced multiple

damages to the environment. The best solution is to implement techniques of bioremediation

like landfarming which use native microorganisms to remedy the environment. These

techniques have the best results when biodegrading total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) if

they are used with other techniques like bioaugmentation. At the same time, the result of

combining these techniques was 86% of TPH biodegradation for landfarming and

bioaugmentation. This shows that landfarming is the best option of bioremediation because

it is easy to use, short-term, low cost and environmentally friendly.

Situation

There are various oil pipelines in different parts of Colombia. Among these are Caño Limon-

Coveñas, Alto Magdalena, Ocensa, Colombia, Transandino, Los Llanos and Bicentenario. In
the 90s, there were attacks on the Caño Limón-Coveñas oil pipeline by the guerrilla. Guerrilla

groups were very active at that time. In consequence, the Instituto Colombiano del Petroleo

-IPC Ecopetrol requested guidance from the CIMIC laboratory of the Universidad de los

Andes and these organizations worked together. They searched for literature about oil

disasters to understand the situation.

Problem

These attacks were a problem because they caused an oil spill, which produced different

types of environmental pollution. The main effects of an oil spill are death of plants and

animals due to intoxication, asphyxiation, lack of mobility and permeability, and a decrease

in photosynthesis. For example, the area where the Caño Limon-Coveñas oil pipeline

exploded lost biodiversity, the land became infertile and the water was no longer drinkable.

Also, this attack caused financial losses and damaged the infrastructure and the oil pipeline

stopped working.
Taken from https://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/otras-ciudades/datos-y-cifras-del-atentado-contra-el-oleoducto-cano-limon-covenas-

326972

Image 1 illustrates the attacks on the Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline carried out by illegal groups during the last 30 years. The location of

the pipeline, its longitude, the daily transportation of oil, the number of attacks that took place on the pipeline, the number of spilled oil

barrels, and the financial losses are shown in the image. This information was obtained by registering the data from the most important

locations. The most significant change in the amount of attacks occurred between 2014 and 2015: they decreased substantially from 141 to

15. Nevertheless, from 2015 to 2018, the attacks rose steadily. According to the data, in the year when the lowest amount of attacks

happened, there was the most amount of spilled oil barrels. This can be concluded based on the corresponding graphs. However, the image

does not present the reasons why this occurred. It is probable that these attacks were more destructive. This would be something to consider

in future research.
Solution

A possible solution to this problem is to implement one of the diverse techniques of

bioremediation that are the most sustainable. Bioremediation is a biological, chemical and

physical process to remove pollutants. In other words, it increases the rate of natural

bioremediation made by native microorganisms. This process is characterized by being low

cost and friendly to the environment. There are three types of bioremediation: passive (which

is the same as natural attenuation), intermediate (like bioaugmentation) and active (such as

landfarming). Moreover, landfarming is a process in which microorganisms are used to

remove water or land pollutants. It is a form of active bioremediation, which means that it

intervenes directly in the soil. This process uses native microorganisms from the oil spill.

These microorganisms break down hydrocarbons in the oil so that they are no longer

pollutant. Landfarming is one of the most effective, low cost and environmentally friendly

types of ex situ bioremediation. At the end of the process, the land can be cultivated again.

In addition, landfarming can be combined with other techniques to be more effective, as a

report from Chemosphere journal states. The authors proved that bioaugmentation-assisted

landfarming broke down 86% of petroleum hydrocarbons (table 1) (Guarino, Spada, &

Sciarrillo, 2017). Therefore, the source suggests using combined bioremediation techniques

for the best results.

Table 1 presents the three treatments used in the research: natural attenuation (NA), landfarming (L), and landfarming and bioaugmentation

(LB). Also, it shows the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration in mg kg^-1 dry weight, of the solid samples after 0, 60 and 90

days for experimental plots. The table shows that the treatment that biodegrades the TPH the most is LB, followed by L and NA for the

samples with the highest initial concentration (B1 and B3) and for the samples with the lowest initial concentration (B7 and B8). For the

NA treatment, the biodegradation was always lower the in comparison to LB, except for samples B7 and B8, in which the differences

between these two treatments are modest. According to the data, removal percentage of TPH in NA averaged 57%, in L averaged 70% and

in LB averaged 86%. It is rather clear that the LB treatment is the most effective. This can be concluded based on the results of each

treatment. However, the removal percentage of TPH does not show in the table. This would be useful in future research.

Evaluation

This process is more effective than other techniques, such as bioaugmentation and natural

attenuation. Landfarming is preferred because it is easy to use, low cost and short-term, and
environmentally friendly. Due to the lack of knowledge people have about these topics, they

may panic as the process implements microorganisms. However, there are many studies that

confirm that this process is safe. Another issue that this practice may have is delays given

negative climactic conditions. Though this could occur, the benefits outweigh this possibility.

Furthermore, it requires little machinery and it does not generate emissions. There is research

that supports landfarming use in Colombia. For example, in an article by Lina Manchola and

Jenny Dussán, they concluded that the microorganisms L.sphaericus y Geobacillus sp are

capable of biodegrading low and medium crude oils (Manchola & Dussán, 2014). As a result

of its implementation in the year 2014 in Casanare, 94% of the oil was decomposed, in

contrast to the efficiency levels of the abiotic control. This reaffirms the use of landfarming

in Colombia for future oil spills and its ability to recover the environment.

Annotated Bibliography

Datos y cifras del atentado contra el oleoducto Caño Limón Coveñas - Otras Ciudades -

Colombia - ELTIEMPO.COM. (n.d.). Recovered on september 23, 2019, from

https://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/otras-ciudades/datos-y-cifras-del-atentado-

contra-el-oleoducto-cano-limon-covenas-326972

Guarino, C., Spada, V., & Sciarrillo, R. (2017). Assessment of three approaches of

bioremediation (Natural Attenuation, Landfarming and Bioagumentation – Assistited

Landfarming) for a petroleum hydrocarbons contaminated soil. Chemosphere, 170, 10–

16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.11.165
Guarino, Spada, and Sciarrillo evaluated three different techniques of bioremediation for

biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons. To evaluate these techniques, they used

three different treatments on eight soil samples contaminated with oil: natural

attenuation, landfarming, and bioaugmentation-assisted landfarming, which were made

in triplicates for 90 days. As a result, the authors found that bioaugmentation-assisted

landfarming produced the best results with a reduction of 86% of total petroleum

hydrocarbons. Therefore, they show the positive effects of landfarming, which can be

combined with other techniques for optimal results. It is useful for my research because

it could help implement these techniques in the case of an oil spill in Colombia and

could endorse the use of landfarming to biodegrade the petroleum hydrocarbons.

Manchola, L., & Dussán, J. (2014). Lysinibacillus sphaericus and Geobacillus sp

Biodegradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Biosurfactant Production.

Remediation, 2.org/10.1002/rem.214165(1), 85–100. https://doi

In this paper, the authors analyze the biodegradation of total petroleum hydrocarbons in the

presence of toxic metals for seven strains of microorganisms. For this, they took samples

from two petroleum stations in Casanare, Colombia (Palmarito and Trinida). Three

treatments in triplicates and to evaluate the biodegradation were applied: the strains were

inoculated for each sample, a consortium of these microorganisms was also inoculated, and

an abiotic control was carried out. Thus, the authors showed that 93% of the total petroleum

hydrocarbons biodegraded. They proved that two strains, which are L.sphaericus and

Geobacillus sp, are able to biodegrade the total petroleum hydrocarbons. This paper, whose

conclusions aid the use of landfarming in Colombia due to the beneficial results it presents,
collaborates with the evaluation of my research. Additionally, the study claims that strains of

the reported microorganisms are suitable for the Colombian case study because of their

properties.