brought together scientists, engineers and other environmental professionals from 20 countries (including, in addition to Europe, North and South America, Australia and Japan) to present and discuss timely research concerning the bioremediation of sites contaminated by hazardous substances.
Like the previous two Conferences, also held in Chania in 2001 and 2003, this one proved to be a great success, with over 170 papers (including plenary and keynote lectures, oral presentations and posters) covering thematic areas such as natural attenuation, groundwater bioremediation, phytoremediation, bioreactor technologies and environmental microbiology.
In this Conference, research on treatment of industrial streams polluted with organochlorinated compounds, heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons and contaminants of agricultural origin was given special emphasis, with oral and poster presentations spanning six sessions.
This special issue of JCTB includes selected papers from the Conference on bioreactor-based remediation technologies. In particular, it features 14 research and three review papers discussing various treatment processes of industrial and agro-industrial effluents. Nine papers deal with effluents containing heavy metals, halogenated compounds and other organic contaminants, while eight focus on the treatment of olive oil-processing wastewaters, a topic of great importance for the Mediterranean countries.
We wish to thank the Executive Editors of the Journal, in particular Peter Hambleton, for his invaluable assistance in preparing this special issue. We are also indebted to all the reviewers who have helped to make 'Bioremediation of Industrial and Agro-industrial Effluents' an excellent source of reference material.