Exploiting Hydrocarbon‐Degrading Indigenous Bacteria for Bioremediation and Phytoremediation of a Multicontaminated Soil

Plant‐based technologies are suited to remove low to moderate contamination. Plants can take up heavy metal ions but are often sensitive to organic contaminants and grow slowly with only a slight remediation effect. Multiple approaches can be useful to accelerate remediation. The combined action of hydrocarbon‐degrading and plant growth‐promoting indigenous bacteria can enhance phytoremediation. A three‐step approach (landfarming, bioaugmentation, phytoremediation) was applied to a disused industrial area contaminated by nitrogen‐containing compounds, alkylaromatic hydrocarbons, copper, and nickel. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry led to the speciation of organic compounds. This technique confirmed the effectiveness of alkylaromatic hydrocarbon remediation.