Preliminary Study of Groundwater Quality Using Hierarchical Classification Approaches for Contaminated Sites in Indigenous Communities Associated with Crude Oil Exploration Facilities in Rivers State, Nigeria

Background: Groundwater is an important source of water. Since the control and removal of pollution are expensive, it is essential to identify the possible sources of contamination and to correctly classify groundwater on the basis of its intrinsic and integrated vulnerability. Objectives: To group ground water chemical ions and heavy metals parameters into similar groups. Method: The investigation made use of standard analytical procedures. All sampling, conservation, transportation and analysis followed standard procedures described in APHA (2012). To prevent degradation of the organic substances, all obtained samples were transferred to the laboratory, while kept in an icebox. Results: Sampling records from the same area are generally assigned to the same cluster during hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The cluster diagram shows the grouping of the heavy metal in the study area during wet and dry seasons. It reveals that 5 distinct clusters were identified for wet season and 4 clusters were identified during dry season. Also, it reveals that 5 distinct clusters were identified for wet season and for dry season, 4 distinct clusters were identified. Conclusion: The findings of this study are significant for policymakers and agencies in terms of dealing with the issues identified to enhance sustainable livelihood practices in the oil rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Therefore, decision-makers should take proper initiatives to get local people aware of the endangered zones before use, as drinking water is key to good health. Similarly, multinational oil companies will find it useful in their quest for viable social corporate responsibility and remediation plans in their respective host communities. The method proved to be a useful and objective tool for environmental planning.

Comparative Analysis of Carbon Monoxide Modeling from Vehicular Sources in Puebla City,Mexico

The results of dispersion modeling of carbon monoxide are reported in this paper. The results of applying the technique of Rapid Assessment of Sources of Environmental Pollution (RASEP) database and the Air Monitoring State System in the City of Puebla, México, were employed. Concentrations of carbon monoxide emitted by cars inferred by RASAP technique with those reported by the environmental monitoring station “Nymphs”, were compared. The date of 21 June 2005-2010 was selected during the peak hour traffic flow. The dispersion of carbon monoxide was modeled by software DISPER and SCRI software, in order to infer the exposure levels of carbon monoxide in the study area. The estimated and monitored concentrations were evaluated with the Mexican regulations for population’s health protection. Regarding the dispersion model, SCRI was discarded for the target validation because it only allows modeling on specific areas. Moreover, the modeling software allowed DISPER simulations with linear sources of car exhaust, so this advantage is considered appropriate to continue using this program. Both estimates obtained by RASEP, as modeled by DISPER and recorded by the monitoring system exceed the maximum permissible limits of NOM-021-SSA1-1993 getting an impermissible for the area of influence of the assessment monitoring station. The DISPER software has potential use for such evaluations, but more work is required on the system for their inferences can be validated by reproducible physical and chemical measurements.