WASTE GENERATION ISSUES IN PETROLEUM PRODUCING COMMUNITIES IN NIGERIA

摘要

The increasing global concern on the environment demands that waste should be properly managed in order to minimize and possibly eliminate their potential harm to public health and the environment. This paper looks into the various classes of waste and their sources in petroleum producing communities in Nigeria and also possible treatment and method of disposing them are also discussed. From Research, it was discovered that the main sources of wastes in petroleum producing communities in Nigeria are mainly from Petroleum Industry (Upstream Operation). These include drilling mud/fluids and the drilling cuttings which come as a result of well drilling processes. Others are the tank bottom sludge, which come as a result of crude oil sedimentation in the storage tank, the oily water phase, accidental oil spillage, well blow-out, leakage of the pipelines and storage tanks. Also, gaseous wastes are produced as a result of gas flaring, stock flare and the result from the combustion of heavy vehicles during the exploration process. This paper intends to come up with the consequences of the waste generated in the oil producing communities of Nigeria and the ways which are adopted by the oil companies in managing those wastes.