[en] The Great Lakes area sediments are contaminated with varying amounts of heavy metals and polychlorinated organic matter. With respect to the bioremediation of metallic contents of these sediments, it was shown that a number of microorganisms exist which can effectively solubilize heavy metals. The basic reaction mechanisms of bioleaching processes were discussed and the effects of semiconductor character of the sulfide substrate explained. A special emphasis was made to comment on INEL's bioremediation capability. 37 refs