RAPID: Response to the MTBE Spill, Port of Houston, Texas, March 2015

RAPID：对 MTBE 泄漏事件的响应，德克萨斯州休斯顿港，2015 年 3 月

• 批准号: 1542727
• 负责人: Kevin Finneran
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: Clemson University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-06-01 至 2016-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1542727&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Response; MTBE; Spill; Port

1542727FinneranOn March 9 two ships collided in the Port of Houston shipping lane. The Carla Maersk, which was carrying 216,000 barrels of methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), was ruptured and an estimated 200,000 gallons of MTBE leaked into the Port of Houston. MTBE is extremely water soluble, and visible sheens were absent within a day or two. Therefore, the "surface response" of placing hydrophobic oil skimming booms did not contain the MTBE, and a large volume likely diluted and dispersed within the channel. It is unlikely that standard "oil spill" responses will attenuate MTBE, and this research will provide the Port of Houston stakeholders with data to assist in the short and long term response.The broad objective of the proposed work is to characterize how the microbial community responds to MTBE contamination in marine sediment, and to identify specific microbial processes that will attenuate MTBE with or without engineering intervention. This is the first time a spill can be tracked from its inception, and the data will assist in all future efforts related to both MTBE remediation and high volume spill response. The specific objectives are to: 1) use metagenomic sequencing and high throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing to determine both the shifts in microbial populations, as well as microbial activity related to the MTBE spill, and 2) quantify the native MTBE attenuation rates, and identify processes that can increase the rate and extent of biodegradation. These objectives will be met by testing the following hypotheses: 1) The microbial community will shift in response to MTBE and be dominated by operable taxonomic units previously identified in MTBE-degrading enrichment cultures and sediment incubations; and, 2) Sulfate-reducing microorganisms will dominate all MTBE degrading microbial reactions. The research will use high throughput sequencing of microbial DNA extracted from marine sediment in the Port of Houston to characterize the shift amongst microbial populations as they respond to MTBE contamination. In addition, the PI will use standard anoxic batch incubations to determine the rate and extent of MTBE degradation, and the projected pathway of biodegradation by analyzing known intermediates such as tert-butyl alcohol and tert-butyl formate. All anoxic incubation techniques have been previously reported and will be standard anoxic, glass serum bottles sealed with a butyl rubber stopper and sampled with anoxic-gas flushed syringe and needle setups. The proposed activity will be felt at the responder and practitioner levels. These data can and will be used to assist all future engineering responses to large MTBE spills. In addition, the basic scientific data can be used to identify specific microbial populations that respond to and possibly degrade MTBE.

1542727finneranon 3月9日在休斯顿航运巷港口碰撞。卡拉·马尔斯克（Carla Maersk）载有216,000桶甲基第三丁基醚（MTBE），据估计，估计有200,000加仑的MTBE泄漏到休斯顿港口。 MTBE非常可溶，一两天在一两天内就没有可见的光泽。因此，放置疏水油的“表面响应”不包含MTBE，并且很可能稀释并分散在通道内。标准的“溢油”反应不太可能会减轻MTBE，这项研究将为休斯顿利益相关者港口提供数据以帮助短期和长期的响应。拟议工作的广泛目标是，微生物群落对海洋沉积物中的MTBE污染方式表征如何在海洋泥浆中响应，并确定特定的微生物过程，而不必在不适合使用工程MITENGINDERING MINDINGERING MINDINGERING MINDINGERING MINDINGERING MINDINGERING MIGENING MINDINGERING MIGETIND。这是从成立开始就可以第一次跟踪泄漏事件，数据将有助于与MTBE修复和大量溢出响应有关的所有未来工作。特定目标是：1）使用宏基因组测序和高吞吐量16S rRNA基因测序来确定微生物群体的变化以及与MTBE溢出相关的微生物活性，以及​​2）量化天然MTBE衰减率，并确定可以增加生物降解率和程度的过程。这些目标将通过检验以下假设来实现：1）微生物群落将对MTBE的响应转移，并由先前在MTBE降解的富集培养物和沉积物中孵化的可操作分类单元所支配； 2）还原硫酸盐的微生物将主导所有MTBE降解微生物反应。该研究将使用从休斯顿港口从海洋沉积物中提取的微生物DNA进行高吞吐量测序，以表征微生物种群对MTBE污染的反应时的变化。此外，PI将使用标准的缺氧批次孵育来确定MTBE降解的速率和程度，并通过分析已知的中间体（例如TERT叔丁基酒精和丁基甲酸盐）来确定生物降解的预计途径。先前已经报道了所有缺氧孵化技术，它将是标准缺氧的玻璃血清瓶，并用丁基橡胶塞子密封，并用冲洗注射器和针头装置采样。提议的活动将在响应者和从业者级别上感受到。这些数据可以并且将用于协助对大型MTBE溢出物的所有未来工程响应。此外，基本的科学数据可用于识别响应并可能降解mTBE的特定微生物种群。