AP
DCL
It's a sad truth that there are many places, even in residential neighborhoods, that have soil that's contaminated with crude oil. This can occur when an oil pipeline ruptures, like it did in Minnesota, or when the residue from an old oil spill has been integrated into the oil over the years, as is the case in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenpoint. Exposure to soil contaminated with crude oil can cause a host of unfortunate health effects.
Good thing there's a sustainable solution to the oily problem. And it's chicken feces.
Yes, a recent study has determined that animal manure, and (chicken excrement in particular), helps biodegrade crude oil in soil. The study published by Chinese scientists found that adding chicken poop to contaminated soil triggered a degradation of a whopping 75% in just two weeks. Evidently, animal feces significantly raise the pH levels of the soil, optimizing it for the growth of bacteria that absorb oil.
How they come up with this stuff, I'm not sure I want to know. But the fact remains that we may now have a very useful tool in ridding or soil of pesky oil without having to engage in time-consuming, expensive cleanup efforts?the most common method used currently is to simply dig out the bad soil and move it elsewhere.
So if there's an area nearby your home that's known to be an oil-contaminated site—perhaps a Superfund site—you might want to alert local authorities to a promising new solution. Let your voice be heard on high! Bring in the chicken poop!
