Effect of salt on aerobic biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in contaminated groundwater.

Hydrocarbon-contaminated soil and groundwater at oil and gas production sites may be additionally impacted by salts due to release of produced waters. However, little is known about the effect of salt on the in-situ biodegradation of hydrocarbons by terrestrial microbes, especially at low temperatures. To study this effect, we prepared a groundwater-soil slurry from two sites in Canada: a former flare pit site contaminated with flare pit residue (Site A), and a natural gas processing facility contaminated with natural gas condensate (Site B).