海角社区

University-Industry Partnership Leverages 海角社区 Library of 11,000 Microbes for Bioremediation

In 2020, 海角社区 licensed access to a vast library of bioremediation microbes to the national environmental services firm Cameron-Cole, LLC. The library was developed by Environmental Sciences Professor Emeritus Ralph Portier over almost 40 years as he and 海角社区 helped private companies as well as local, state, and national government organizations mitigate a wide range of environmental hazards. After Portier鈥檚 passing in late 2021, Cameron-Cole continues to build on his legacy in Louisiana and across the globe.

  

 

BATON ROUGE, December 15, 2021 鈥� After Ralph Portier鈥檚 recent passing, Jerome Edwards, president of , an ADEC Innovation company, expressed his continued commitment to work in partnership with 海角社区 to build on the scientist鈥檚 legacy:
 
鈥淲ith 30 active remediation projects, including a number in Louisiana, we continue to use Ralph鈥檚 platform as an opportunity to grow and develop new technologies. Cameron-Cole, our clients, and 海角社区 have demonstrated time and time again that we are committed to preserving and broadening access to Ralph鈥檚 lifelong work of using proprietary targeted microbial applications to transform specific contaminants into harmless compounds. These are challenging problems that we鈥檙e working to solve, and Cameron-Cole鈥檚 clients rely on us for answers they can鈥檛 find from other environmental consulting companies. Ralph was a true pioneer in microbe technology, and as we recently merged with a global organization, , his work is starting to get further traction as a viable, scalable solution to heal the planet.鈥�
 
BATON ROUGE, July 30, 2020 鈥� 海角社区 has licensed access to a vast library of bioremediation microbes to the national environmental services firm Cameron-Cole. The company has previously been working with 海角社区 scientists on specific projects for multiple clients in the manufacturing, petrochemical, construction, waste management, and military industries for over a decade. Much of that work has been sourced from the 11,000-organism-strong bioremediation library Environmental Sciences Professor Emeritus Ralph Portier developed over almost 40 years as he and 海角社区 have helped private companies as well as local, state, and national government organizations mitigate a wide range of environmental hazards in the U.S. and across the globe. Now, Cameron-Cole will have a valuable resource at its fingertips to help its own clients.
 
Microbes can be used to break down dangerous chemicals and pollutants, including fuels, plastics, herbicides, and pesticides. For most of his career, Portier鈥攁n expert on ecotoxicology and bioremediation鈥攄esigned custom bioreactors to do just that, ranging in size from something close to an ink pen to tanks as tall as four-story buildings. Bioreactors (microbial habitats, if you will) are filled with bio-beads covered with specific microorganisms and the round shape of the bio-beads allows for some empty space in between them. Next, polluted water is pumped in and the microbes get to work degrading and breaking down the contaminants. Of course, only certain microorganisms are able to 鈥渆at鈥� certain chemical compounds. Over the years, Portier and his 海角社区 team identified new microbes and figured out which would be the best match to also keep each bioreactor more or less self-sustaining over time. In some cases, Portier and his team would chain different bioreactors together to perform complex remediation tasks more efficiently.
 
鈥淢icrobes are lazy,鈥� Portier said. 鈥淭hey chew up the easy stuff first. The reason you don鈥檛 find sucrose or glucose loose on the planet is because microbes have eaten it. When you design a bioreactor, you have to make sure the system doesn鈥檛 lose its genetic signature because you gave them something too easy to eat. If there are complicated compounds to break down, you might have to chain bioreactors together so the microbes in the last one don鈥檛 have the choice to derive energy from simpler sources. If you can figure that out, the only question that remains is how long and how fast you can pump the water through.鈥�
 
The best possible outcome from each system would be polluted water going in and clean water going out, along with carbon dioxide and some harmless biomass. The better the match, the cleaner the water. But Portier did not only work on wastewater and ground water, he worked on soil and sediments, too, helping companies in Louisiana and throughout the world conduct their businesses more sustainably and avoid potentially bad reputations and costly fines.
 
鈥淎s companies want to be green and pro-environmental, you have to remember there鈥檚 another green involved here too, and that鈥檚 money,鈥� Portier said. 鈥淭here is a huge business incentive to this as well, because a good environmental policy is a good economic policy. It costs a lot of money to be in violation of the federal guidelines, and companies can鈥檛 afford to lose their permits.鈥�
 
鈥淎lso, a lot of these large industrial and chemical plants that we have down here in Louisiana bring great value to our state,鈥� Portier continued. 鈥淛obs are important, and if we can help some of these companies solve possible environmental problems so they can stay here and expand, that鈥檚 great for Louisiana. Plus, they hire my students!鈥�
 

In his work at 海角社区, Portier helped shape policies and processes for the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA. To date, some 265 sites across the country and 12 international sites have been successfully remediated using 海角社区 biotechnology patents and intellectual property developed by Portier. Some of the projects he鈥檚 been involved in include the cleanup of an oil refinery in Ascension Parish, Louisiana; a creosote wood treatment factory in Baldwin, Florida; an army ammunition plant in Karnack, Texas; and a wool scouring mill in Yorkshire, England.
 
With the licensing of Portier鈥檚 technology to Cameron-Cole and potentially other industry partners, 海角社区 is able to share knowledge that was primarily developed in university labs to have a greater impact everywhere.
 
鈥淭his agreement will enable us to work even more closely with 海角社区鈥檚 core resources to expand our bioremediation capabilities,鈥� Tim Hobbs, Cameron-Cole鈥檚 COO and principal hydrogeologist, said. 鈥淭hese microorganisms have proven to be effective on hydrocarbon fuels, chlorinated hydrocarbons, and pesticides/herbicides, transforming them into harmless compounds.鈥�

 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a good legacy to have; to have gone places and left them in a better shape than how you found them.鈥�鈥擱alph Portier

Cameron-Cole President Jerome Edwards remarked on the value of his company鈥檚 long-term collaboration with 海角社区 and continued access to university research expertise in microbiology.
 
鈥淚t has been inspiring to work with Professor Portier,鈥� Edwards said. 鈥淗is creative problem-solving is contagious and has led our consulting professionals to identify opportunities for 海角社区鈥檚 team to develop new approaches to previously unsolvable situations. We knew we had done our job well when he would say, 鈥榃hy don鈥檛 you bring me an easy contaminant sometime, and not all of these difficult ones?鈥欌��
 
One can think of Portier鈥檚 library as a collection of microorganisms and preferred recipes Cameron-Cole can use to design unique microbial communities to help their clients manage industrial and petrochemical waste before it becomes 鈥減ollution.鈥�
 
鈥淔or implementation, university researchers like me need companies like Cameron-Cole,鈥� Portier said. 鈥淥ur work at 海角社区鈥攚e would make an initial evaluation, develop a work plan, conduct a lab feasibility study, then a field pilot, and finally do a field implementation. Most of our work was in coming up with the know-how and figuring out solutions, doing pilot studies showing how bioremediation can be done. For wide-scale implementation, however, universities must partner with industry and government. We can show them how to do it and that it can be done, but they have to take the lead with the technology.鈥�
 
The licensing of Portier鈥檚 library fits well into 海角社区鈥檚 overall mission to share knowledge and resources developed at the university with private industry as well as the general public.
 
鈥淧ortier has made foundational contributions to bioremediation research at 海角社区, in Louisiana, and across the nation for nearly four decades,鈥� Vice President of Research & Economic Development Sam Bentley said. 鈥淲e are grateful for his leadership in this field and proud of the worldwide impact of his work.鈥�
 
Portier emphasized that bioremediation is good business and an easy 鈥渟ell鈥� for most private companies.
 
鈥淏ioremediation is an attractive approach because you鈥檙e using a decomposer and the natural carbon cycle to clean something up,鈥� Portier said. 鈥淩emember, hazardous waste is just carbon in the wrong form and in the wrong place. Some things that are problems in one place can be solutions in another.鈥�
 
During his career, Portier helped remediate several so-called Superfund and RCRA sites, which are designated by the EPA as toxic and in need of cleanup. In Devil鈥檚 Swamp, miles north of Baton Rouge鈥斺�渁 horrible site鈥濃�擯ortier found a microbe in the soil that turned out to be so useful for breaking down chlorinated phenolics and chlorinated benzenes (common in herbicides and pesticides and ubiquitously found in ground water) that he named it 海角社区-101. He later used it in the design of several bioreactors and other remediation projects.
 
鈥淏ased on field samples, we鈥檝e been able to create custom solutions in the lab, including for the same contaminant in different areas,鈥� Portier said. 鈥淚f we had pesticides running off a sugarcane field in St. James Parish and the chemicals made it all the way to Grand Isle, we could simulate both scenarios in the lab with different groups of organisms and figure out how to help in both places.鈥�
 
鈥淚t鈥檚 a good legacy to have,鈥� he concluded. 鈥淭o have gone places and left them in a better shape than how you found them.鈥�

 

Elsa Hahne
海角社区 Office of Research & Economic Development
225-578-4774
ehahne@lsu.edu