Petroleum Products Spillage and Its Effect on Soil at Mbalim Gwer East Benue State Nigeria

摘要

Soil samples were studied to provide information on the level of damage ( if any) done as petroleum products were spilled from vandalized pipelines 10 years after . Petroleum products are volatile and evaporate in a short time, it is very difficult to determine their presence on soil after some time , instead the soil was analyzed in order to determine the quantity of essential elements still present in the soil after the spill Therefore five (5) locations ( around Mbalim- at the immediate point of spill, one kilometer north, one kilometer South, one kilometer East and one kilometer West) were chosen. Basic elements of soil fertility - pH of the Soil , phosphorus , Nitrogen , Potassium , Organic Carbon and Manganese were determined The soil samples were heavy , hardly absorbed water, displayed acidity of 6.26 , 3.8% nitrogen , 6.6%phosphorus ,5.2% potassium and the texture loamy and sandy. Agricultural use of this land was considered a hard task except the process of remediation is applied. Aeration of the soil at the contaminated site was already sufficient , thermal remediation to raise subsurface temperatures to volatize chemical contaminants out of the soil was equally going on as the site was exposed to enough sunlight. Bioremediation including landfarming , biostimulation and bioaugmentating soil biota is recommended. In areas of intensive farming like Benue State where crops are harvested at least once a year and no animals browse the fields, human intervention in the form of traditional fertilizer, animal manure or muck, made from the straw bedding of cattle that has fermented for a period is also recommended.