Enhanced Biodegradation of Spent Lubricating Oil Contaminated Soil Using Poultry Litter

Enhanced biodegradation of spent lubricating oil contaminated soil using (40% w/w) poultry litter was studied for a period of 56 days. The bacterial count ranged from 1.7×106 cfu/ml – 4.0×106 cfu/ml for oil free soil (OFS), 1.7×106–9.0×105 for oil polluted soil (OPS) and 1.7×105 – 1.0×106 for Poultry Amended oil polluted soil (PAOPS) while the fungal count ranged from 1.2 x105cfu/ml to 5.0 x 105cfu/ml OFS, 4.0x10 -5.0 x105 for OPS and 1.2x105 - 5.0x 105 for PAOPS. The result revealed higher bacterial counts in poultry litter amended soil (PAOPS) compared to oil polluted soil (OPS) and oil free soil (OFS). The fungi counts were low in all treatments (OFS, OPS and PAOPS) .Ten organisms were isolated in the course of this study. The bacteria were Bacillus spp, Micrococcus spp, Pseudomonas spp, Proteus spp and Staphylococcus spp while the fungi include yeasts, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Mucor Spp, Penicillium spp. PAOPS had higher nitrate and phosphorus content compared to OFS and OPS. This result indicates that poultry litter could be used as biostimulating agent to enhance the biodegradation of spent lubricating oil contaminated soil.