Oil spill natural attenuation in High Arctic soil

Climate change is impacting the Arctic more than any other region on Earth. With a significant amount of the world's oil and gas reserves located in the Arctic, the melt of what used to be permanent sea ice is increasing accessibility for companies interested in oil and gas extraction. Panarctic Romulus C-42 is a decommissioned contaminated well site near Eureka, Nunavut that has been left to naturally attenuate since 1972 after a crude oil spill, thus acting as a case study for the impact of oil and gas extraction activity after 44 years. This study examines the changes in the soil microbial community surrounding the site, including the crude oil spill, by using universal primers for PCR to target the 16s rRNA genes from DNA extracted from the soil. The findings of this project will provide information on the bioremediation potential of bacteria indigenous to high Arctic soils by determining what bacteria are in highest relative abundance under these conditions, and the amount of bioremediation that has naturally occurred.