Large-Scale Production and Field Testing of Pelleted Fungal Inocula for Use in Fungal-Based Remediation of Contaminated Soil

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Fungal inocula are a critical and economically-significant component of a technology that exploits the abilities of white-rot wood-decay fungi to degrade pollutants in soil. This technology involves mixing of a fungal inoculum with contaminated soil and placing this mixture in an aerated pile. Current standard inoculum production techniques are expensive, involving the field pasteurization of substrate, inoculation of this substrate with an appropriate fungal strain under aseptic conditions, and monitoring of the inoculum during a grow-out period of 4 to 6 weeks. Preliminary and Phase I SBIR work demonstrated that a novel alternative to standard inocula, referred to as pelleted inoculum, is effective at supporting fungal colonization and pollutant degradation at a significant cost savings compared to standard inocula. However, before pelleted fungal inocula can be used in fungal-based remediation on a commercial basis, successful demonstration of the technical and economic feasibility of large-scale pelleted inoculum production and application are required. The purposes of this project are to identify appropriate equipment for the large-scale production and bagging of pelleted inocula and to demonstrate that pelleted inocula are technically comparable and economically superior to the use of standard inocula in pollutant degradation. As a result, the technical effectiveness and economic competitiveness of fungal-based remediation, an environmentally harmonious soil remediation technology, will be greatly improved.