In the United States, with the enactment of different legislation, such as: the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act  (RCRA) of 1976 and subsequent legislation such as the Comprehensive Environmental Response. Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Superfund Authority Reauthorization Act (SARA) and the toxic pits closure as well as the current nationwide enforcement of the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) program, industry today is facing a major challenge. The hazardous waste and carcinogenic accumulations has become intolerable planet wide.

Nearly 300 million tons of hazardous wastes are generated annually in the U.S.   In addition to the millions of tons of contaminants at sites already needing cleanup, the urgent need for innovative technologies to deal with these problems is obvious.

For most organic hazardous wastes, such as petroleum hydrocarbons, coal tars, creosote, polynuclear aromatics (PNAs), glycols, ketones, alcohols, and a wide variety of other chemical structures, biological treatment techniques offer a cost effective means of in-situ treatments.