scholarly journals OIL CONTAMINATION IN THE NIGER DELTA

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (1) ◽  
pp. 1706-1718 ◽  
Author(s):  
JONAS PÅLSSON ◽  
OLOF LINDÉN

ABSTRACT Oil spills in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has occurred frequently since oil extraction started in the 1950's. The oil spills originates from facilities and pipelines, leaks from ageing and abandoned infrastructure and from spills during transport and artisanal refining of stolen oil under primitive conditions. It is estimated that spills in Nigeria amount to 100 000 to 200 000 tons per year and have been doing so for almost 60 years. While a number of reports have been written about the Niger Delta and the civil unrest in this area during the last decades, very few scientific reports with actual data regarding the extent of the contamination has been published. This paper describes the contamination of sediments and water in a part of the Niger Delta, which has been particularly hard to assess for decades: Ogoniland. It does not discuss the origin of the oil spills. During 2010, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) conducted an extensive environmental assessment of Ogoniland. The assessment was conducted at the request of the Nigerian government. During the assessment, drinking water samples were taken in wells and sediment and surface water samples were collected from streams, ponds and wetlands in and around Ogoniland from April to November. The levels found in the more contaminated sites are high enough to cause severe impacts on the ecosystem and human health. Extractable Petroleum Hydrocarbons (EPHs) reached levels of up to 7420 μg/l in surface water and drinking water wells show up to 42 200 μg/l. Benzene levels were measured up to 9000 μg/l, which is more than 900 times the WHO guidelines. EPH concentrations in sediments were up to 17 900 mg/kg. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations in sediments reached 8.0 mg/kg in the most contaminated sites. The impacts of this pollution were obvious to be seen, with large slicks of crude oil visible in the water and large areas of mangroves suffocated by oil. However, most sites did not show extremely high levels of EPH and PAH concentrations. Although the natural conditions for degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons are favorable with high temperatures and relatively high rainfall, the recovery of contaminated areas is prevented due to the chronic character of the contamination.

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aniefiok E. Ite ◽  
Thomas A. Harry ◽  
Clement O. Obadimu ◽  
Ekpedeme R. Asuaiko ◽  
Iniemem J. Inim

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeola V. Adeniyi ◽  
Matthew E. Nton ◽  
Falode O. Adebanjo

Abstract With over 50 years of oil exploration and exploitation in the Niger Delta, there has been an increasing rate of environmental degradation due to hydrocarbon pollution. This study is aimed at tracing the sources of the oil spills and the distribution of pollutants in selected communities in the Niger Delta using geo-chemical techniques. A total of sixteen samples made up of ten crude oil-impacted soil samples taken at a depth of 30 cm and six water samples (two from boreholes, two from burrow pits and two from surface water – one from a river and the other from rain harvest as control) were collected. The identification and quantification of aliphatic hydrocarbons (AHs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the samples were performed with an Agilent 7890B gas chromatography flame ionisation detector (GCFID). The AHs including pristane and phytane, together with seventeen priority PAHs, were identified. The values of AHs and PAHs in the water samples ranged from 0.13 mg/l to 5.78 mg/l and 0.09 mg/l to 1.109 mg/l, respectively, while that for the soil samples ranged from 22.52 mg/kg to 929.44 mg/kg and 10.544 mg/kg to 16.879 mg/kg, respectively. Z več kot petdesetimi leti raziskovanja in pridobivanja nafte na območju delte reke Niger narašča stopnja degradacije okolja zaradi onesnaževanja z ogljikovodiki. Namen raziskave je slediti virom razlitij nafte in porazdelitev onesnaževal v izbranih skupnostih v delti reke Niger z uporabo geokemičnih pristopov. Skupno je bilo odvzetih 16 vzorcev, od tega 10 vzorcev z nafto nasičenih zemljin iz globine 30 cm ter 6 vzorcev vode, od tega dva iz vrtin, dva iz jame ter dva iz površinske vode (en vzorec iz reke in en iz deževnice). Z detektorjem plamenskega ioniziranja s plinskim kromatografom Agilent 7890B (GC-FID) je bila izvedena identifikacija in kvantifikacija alifatskih ogljikovodikov (AH) in policikličnih aromatskih ogljikovodikov (PAH). Identificirani so bili AH z vključujočim pristanom (pristane) in fitanom (phytane) skupaj s 17 PAH. Vrednosti AH in PAH v vzorcih vode se gibajo med 0.13 mg/l do 5.78 mg/l in 0.09 mg/l do 1.109 mg/l. Vrednosti AH in PAH v vzorcih zemljine se gibajo med 22.52 mg/kg do 929.44 mg/kg in 10.544 mg/kg do 16.879 mg/kg.


2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Simazaki ◽  
M. Asami ◽  
T. Nishimura ◽  
S. Kunikane ◽  
T. Aizawa ◽  
...  

Nationwide surveys of 1,4-dioxane and methyl-t-butyl ether (MTBE) levels in raw water used for the drinking water supply were conducted at 91 water treatment plants in Japan in 2001 and 2002, prior to the revision of the drinking water quality standards. 1,4-dioxane was widely and continuously detected in raw water samples and its occurrence was more frequent and its concentrations higher in groundwater than in surface water. However, its maximum concentration in raw water was much lower than its new standard value (50 μg/L), which was determined as a level of 10−5 excessive cancer risk to humans. Trace levels of MTBE were also detected in several surface water samples.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ananda Tiwari ◽  
Anna-Maria Hokajärvi ◽  
Jorge Santo Domingo ◽  
Michael Elk ◽  
Balamuralikrishna Jayaprakash ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Rivers and lakes are used for multiple purposes such as for drinking water (DW) production, recreation, and as recipients of wastewater from various sources. The deterioration of surface water quality with wastewater is well-known, but less is known about the bacterial community dynamics in the affected surface waters. Understanding the bacterial community characteristics —from the source of contamination, through the watershed to the DW production process—may help safeguard human health and the environment. Results The spatial and seasonal dynamics of bacterial communities, their predicted functions, and potential health-related bacterial (PHRB) reads within the Kokemäenjoki River watershed in southwest Finland were analyzed with the 16S rRNA-gene amplicon sequencing method. Water samples were collected from various sampling points of the watershed, from its major pollution sources (sewage influent and effluent, industrial effluent, mine runoff) and different stages of the DW treatment process (pre-treatment, groundwater observation well, DW production well) by using the river water as raw water with an artificial groundwater recharge (AGR). The beta-diversity analysis revealed that bacterial communities were highly varied among sample groups (R = 0.92, p <  0.001, ANOSIM). The species richness and evenness indices were highest in surface water (Chao1; 920 ± 10) among sample groups and gradually decreased during the DW treatment process (DW production well; Chao1: 320 ± 20). Although the phylum Proteobacteria was omnipresent, its relative abundance was higher in sewage and industrial effluents (66–80%) than in surface water (55%). Phyla Firmicutes and Fusobacteria were only detected in sewage samples. Actinobacteria was more abundant in the surface water (≥13%) than in other groups (≤3%). Acidobacteria was more abundant in the DW treatment process (≥13%) than in others (≤2%). In total, the share of PHRB reads was higher in sewage and surface water than in the DW treatment samples. The seasonal effect in bacterial communities was observed only on surface water samples, with the lowest diversity during summer. Conclusions The low bacterial diversity and absence of PHRB read in the DW samples indicate AGR can produce biologically stable and microbiologically safe drinking water. Furthermore, the significantly different bacterial communities at the pollution sources compared to surface water and DW samples highlight the importance of effective wastewater treatment for protecting the environment and human health.


2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Mandal ◽  
N Khuda ◽  
MR Mian ◽  
M Moniruzzaman ◽  
N Nahar ◽  
...  

Abstract not available DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/dujs.v63i1.21770 Dhaka Univ. J. Sci. 63(1): 59-60, 2015 (January)


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Anowar K Parvez ◽  
Mahfuza Marzan ◽  
Syeda Moriam Liza ◽  
Zia Uddin Ahmed

A total of 114 water samples collected from different parts of Bangladesh were analyzed for the level of reactive nitrogen species NO3 and NH3. Nitrate was determined in 20 surface water, 28 motorized deep tube well and 66 hand operated tube well samples. Ammonia was determined in 18 surface water, 14 deep tube well and 49 hand operated tube well samples. These sites were randomly selected. Nitrate levels were found to be generally low (below 3 mg/l) in 112 of the 114 samples tested, which is much below permissible level of 10 mg/l of drinking water in Bangladesh. Ammonia concentration was, however, found to be about 4 mg/l in majority of the samples tested which is higher than maximum permissible limit of 0.5 mg/l in drinking water. Possible reasons for low level of nitrate and relatively high level of ammonia in surface and ground water samples in Bangladesh is discussed DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbas.v38i1.20214 Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Vol. 38, No. 1, 75-82, 2014


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabir Nurtazin ◽  
Steven Pueppke ◽  
Temirkhan Ospan ◽  
Azamat Mukhitdinov ◽  
Timur Elebessov

The thinly populated Balkhash District of Kazakhstan’s Almaty Region lies in the lower reaches of the Ili-Balkhash basin, which is shared by China and Kazakhstan. The district is arid and heavily dependent on inflows of surface water, which are threatened by the effects of upstream population growth, economic development, and climate change. The quality of drinking water from centralized water systems and tube wells in nine villages of the district was analyzed, and the organoleptic properties of water from these sources was also assessed by an expert and via surveys of local residents. Although most samples met governmental standards for the absence of chemical impurities, high concentrations of mineralization, chlorides, boron, iron, and/or uranium were present in some well water samples. Levels of these pollutants were as much as 4-fold higher than governmental maxima and as much as 16-fold higher than concentrations reported previously in surface water. All centralized water samples met standards for absence of microbial contamination, but total microbial counts in some well water samples exceeded standards. Organoleptic standards were met by all the water from five villages, but centralized water from one village and well water from four villages failed to meet standards based on expert judgment. Residents were, for the most part, more satisfied with centralized rather than well water, but there was no obvious relationship between the failure of water to meet standards and the locations or populations of the settlements. This is the first comprehensive assessment of groundwater used for drinking in the lower Ili-Balkhash basin, and although it relies on a limited number of samples, it nevertheless provides evidence of potentially serious groundwater contamination in the Balkhash District. It is thus imperative that additional and more detailed studies be undertaken.


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