The manner in which municipal wastes generated are disposed in most urban areas in Nigeria is worrisome. The upsurge in population density and its resultant increase in urbanization and industrialization and the amount of waste generated in Aba, are of great concern. The objective of this research is to evaluate the concentration of some heavy metals in soils in the vicinity of Enyimba dumpsite in Aba, Nigeria. Thirty soil samples were collected and analyzed in the laboratory for some heavy metals by atomic absorption spectrophotometric method and multivariate statistical techniques. Twenty-five of the samples were obtained from the vicinity of the dumpsite while five samples are collected far away from the dumpsite to serve as control samples. The overall decreasing metal concentration in the dumpsite soil is: Cd > Co > Cu > Zn > As > Pb > Mn > Ni > Cr. A positive correlation exists between Cd and organic matter (r = 0.598). Geo-accumulation index and contamination factor showed a moderate contaminated with Cd only while the other metals are in their uncontaminated level. Factor analysis revealed four major components accounting for 78.82% of cumulative variance of the contamination: Cd, Cu, Co and organic matter; Pb, Zn and pH; Mn, As, clay + silt and finally Cr and Ni. From the above observations, it is evident that only Cd showed more pronounced level of pollution than any other metal. The need to replace open dumpsites with well designed sanitary landfills is advocated.

Increased industrial expansion and population in Aba has lead to huge generation of wastes and their disposal has resulted to air, land and water pollution. This study examined the degree of heavy metal contamination of Aba River in southeastern Nigeria. Heavy metals such as Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Cr, Cd, As and Pb were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer and the result compared with the Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality. The pollution load index between the heavy metals in the river produced the following output: Fe > Zn > Cu > Mn > Ni > Cr > Pb > As > Cd. The metals exhibited a good linear correlation coefficient and the application of factor analysis on the data revealed three sources of pollution arising from the various human activities taking place along the river channel. The findings indicate that the water needs some degree of treatment before consumption and it also needs to be protected from the perils of contamination.