It looks like Thomas Azwell -- a graduate student whose work crosses disciplanary boundaries from Society and Environment, where he is pursuing his Ph.D., to microbial biology, where he works closely with plant biologist Norman Terry -- might be on to something with his army of worms.
Azwell has developed a promising approach to safe disposal of oil spill waste (see 2:00 mark in video.)
From the California Acadamy of Sciences' Science in Action series:
http://www.calacademy.org/science/sia/2009/04/bio-inspiration-hair-mats/