Impact Assessment of Oil Spillage on Farmlands of Some Communities in Ilaje Area of Ondo State, Nigeria

This study investigated the impact assessment of oil spillage on farmlands of some communities in Ilaje Area of Ondo state. Three farmlands were considered in the course of this study. Two of the three farmlands were within the Ikorigho and Otumara communities that recently experienced oil spillage and they are about 300 m from each other. While the third farm was within the Igbokoda community which is geographically similar but has not experienced oil spillage, it was used as control. The farmland was delineated at each area by the grid technique and soil samples were collected at 0-20 cm depth of the ground. Some physiochemical properties that reflect soil nutrient content and fertility status （pH, electrical conductivity, moisture content, organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorous and cation exchange capacity （CEC）） were determined using standard methods and results from the three areas were compared. There was a significant decrease in the calcium （Ca）, magnesium （Mg）, potassium （K） and organic matter, as well as a significant increase in the electrical conductivity, moisture content and phosphorous content of the oil-spill affected farmlands at Ikorigho and Otumara when compared with the non-affected farmland at Igbokoda. The acidic nature of the farmlands could not be attributed entirely to the oil spill since the control farmland at Igbokoda was slightly acidic. The results show that oil spillage has adversely affected the nutrient level and fertility status of farmland at Ikorigho and Otumara communities, which needs urgent remediation.

Post Impact of Hydrocarbon Spillage on Physicochemical Parameters and Heavy Metals in the Santa Barbara River, Nembe, Bayelsa State

The work of the paper focused on the post impact of oil spill contamination of groundwater in Bassambiri Nembe Bayelsa State. Groundwater samples were sampled from hand dug wells from eight stations including the control point for physico-chemical investigation using sterilized glass bottles. Sampling was carried out upstream and downstream on the Santa Barbara River across the stations and the results are as follows surface water pH ranged 6.90 - 7.50, electrical conductivity 19739.41 μS/cm - 28920.64 μS/cm and Chloride 6019.63 - 9274.82 mg/l. The Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) varied from 10472.72 mg/l - 16538.19 mg/l dissolved oxygen (DO) 6.21 mg/l - 7.371 mg/l while the mean biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) 0.09 ± 0.52 mg/l - 2.4 ± 0.81 mg/l, temperature 28.04℃ - 31.79℃ while total alkalinity is 43.95 mg/L -73.87 mg/L. Calcium ion ranged 375.68 mg/l - 536.72 mg/l, Magnesium ion 88.35 - 243.24 mg/l and Potassium ion 41.27 - 121.17 mg/l. The results of the study showed that the pH, salinity, alkalinity, total suspended solids (TSS), Chlorides, Phosphates, and Nitrates are within permissible limits of the WHO, however the electrical conductivity, TDS, turbidity, DO, BOD, and hardness exceeded WHO permissible limits for drinking water. Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) and Heavy metals had low concentrations in the Santa Barbara River across the study area suggesting that surface water is not polluted. However, the surfactants used initially to contain the oil pollution were effective based on this research.

Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in some tissues of croaker fish from oil spilled rivers of Niger Delta region,Nigeria

Objective:To investigate the level of heavy metals(Cu,Zn,Fe Mn Ni,Pb and Cd) in muscles,gills and liver tissue of Croaker fish from oil spilled rivers of Bonny and Finima,Niger Delta region,Nigeria.Methods:Twenty four Croacker fishes(Genyonemus lineatus) weighing between 250 and 260 g and 24–26 cm length were collected from each sampling sites(Bonny and finima rivers).The frozen fishes were thawed and dried at 105C until they reach a constant weight.The dried samples were homogenized and digested with 10 ml tri-acid mixture(HNO3:HCl O4:H2SO4),and then the digested samples were diluted to 100 ml with deionized water.Heavy metals(Cu,Ni,Zn,Pb,Mn,Iron Fe,and Cd) concentrations were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer.Results:Our results revealed that concentrations and distribution patterns of all heavy metals studied varied significantly(P < 0.05) amongst the fish tissues analyzed and sampling sites.Moreover,liver tissue of fish caught from Finima creek accumulated the highest concentrations of Cu(52.64 ± 3.01 mg/g dry wt),Zn(166.50 ± 6.45 mg/g dry wt)and Fe(801.50 ± 14.15 mg/g dry wt) in comparison to the liver of fish caught from Bonny river in which the levels of Cu,Zn and Fe were(45.00 ± 2.79),(49.90 ± 2.91) and(216 ± 6.11 mg/g dry wt),respectively.In addition,Mn,Ni,Pb and Cd exhibited their highest concentrations in gills from both locations.As expected,muscle tissue contained the least concentrations of all metals investigated from both sampling sites.Furthermore,all the metals investigated exhibited highest concentration in fish collected from Finima creek.These abnormal high level heavy metals accumulation observed in this location could be linked to the frequent crude oil spills as well as industrial activity around the area which might get discharged into Finima creek.In general,the mean concentrations of some toxic heavy metals investigated exceed the recommended maximum permissible limits set by the Joint FAO/WHO committee.However,some metals are within the acceptable limits.Conclusions:In conclusion,our data showed the abnormal higher concentration of these metals and this might be toxic to the fish and other aquatic organisms directly or by extension to humans that frequently consumed such contaminated fishes.