SBIR Phase I: Development of a Commercial Culture of Dehalococcoides for anaerobic treatment of PCBs

This Small BusinessI nnovatio esearch( SBIR) Phase1 project addressesth e developmento f a bacterial culture to degrade PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in contaminated soils and sediments. PCBs are persistent, toxic contaminants which accumulate in the fatty tissues of animals,c ontaminatingf ish and humans.P CB-degradingb acteriah ave beend ifficult to produce. In2009, a readily-grownb acterials peciesw as shownb y BioremediationC onsultingI nc (BCI) to degrade the most harmful and carcinogenic type of PCBs. This finding allows the development of an anaerobic PCB-degrading culture for cost-etfective inoculation into PCB-contaminated sediments. The proposed research will document the ability of BCI's culture to extensively dechlorinate three types of commercial PCB mixtures, and will develop methods of rapid culturing. The broader/commerciailm pactso f this researcha ret he developmento f a bacteriai noculantt hat will degrade PCBs in soil and sediment. PCBs are toxic chemicals used historically as heatresistant fluids in many industrial applications, including transformers in the electric utility industry. Several hundred million pounds were manufactured and disposed, resulting in contamination of soils and river sediments. The recent finding at BCI, that a strain of dechlorinating bacteria is capable of dechlorinating PCBs. provides an opportunity for BCI to develop a commercial culture for inoculating contaminated sites with PCB-degrading bacteria. The marketing of this product will be complementedb y our already-successfusl aleso f other dechlorinating cultures used in treatment of contamination by diverse chlorinated compounds. Major stakeholdersin the utility industries,a nd remediationc ontractors,h ave expressedin terest in partnering with BCI and/or obtaining culture.