Ohio Business Turns Drill Cuttings into Clean Fill Dirt

In one example of how development of the Utica and Marcellus shale formations are contributing to the Ohio economy, one expanding business has recently been awarded approval to use microbes to rehabilitate soil contaminated by petroleum products.  Long used to reclaim soil from gas stations and other industrial sites, Ohio Soil Recycling of Columbus, Ohio is now using microbes to reclaim drill cuttings from well sites, preserving material that would otherwise be taken to a landfill.  The process uses naturally occurring bacteria to break down the petroleum products in as quickly as 24 hours.  Ohio Soil Recycling has only recently received approval for the process, but is reporting great interest from oil and gas producers in Ohio.