PROVO, Utah – Brigham Young University agreed to license the rights to a microorganism bred to “eat” pollutants from soil and water to Pure Enviro Management, a Utah-based company.
BYU researchers flipped a genetic switch to “turn on” the naturally occurring microorganism’s ability to degrade chlorinated contaminants.
The bacterium’s success in lab tests has been documented in studies published in peer-reviewed science journals. The combination of this technology with Pure Enviro Management’s patented delivery system has since proven successful in an initial field test.
Pure Enviro conducted a recent 7-week remediation trial in Murray, Utah. Preliminary results indicated the bacterium decreased original contaminant levels in an existing toxic plume by 92 percent.
“That’s a remarkable improvement and in a very short time,” said Mike Alder, BYU’s Director of Technology Transfer.
The aerobic bacterium benefitted from Pure Enviro’s patented Subsurface Metabolic Enhancement (SME) system to deliver oxygen and nutrients below the soil surface. Sustained by the SME system, the bacterium grew and consumed chlorine-containing hydrocarbon contaminants, leaving benign water and carbon dioxide as byproducts.
“We are very pleased to be selected by BYU to represent their unique scientific discovery and
introduce this technology in the fight to restore nature back to the earth,” said Dennis L. Crockett, Chief Executive Officer of Pure Enviro Management. “Our exclusive agreement with BYU for the U.S. and Canada will now allow us to fully implement this capability alongside our patented SME technology, which has previously proven to be effective at cleaning most types of contaminated soils. Not only is this new remediation method potentially more cost effective than current approaches, it could significantly reduce the time needed to restore damaged soils to health.”
Further details about the microorganism and the BYU research behind it are proprietary.
Pure Enviro Management contact: Dean Simmons, Director of Marketing, (801) 540-9052, dsimmons@pureenviromgt.com
