Effluents from petrochemical operations are generally considered to be harmful to the environment particularly due to their accumulated levels of petroleum hydrocarbons which distort the properties of the habitat immediate to such facilities. This study was undertaken to compare and appraise the petroleum hydrocarbon constituents from oily sludge discharge as well as changes in the physicochemical composition of soils within an 8.5 km radius from Warri refinery in Delta State, Nigeria. Data obtained revealed an almost identical acidic soil environment (5.31 -5.54) to that of the contaminating sludge (5.25) unlike that of the control (7.81). The overall levels of sulphate (412.73 -465.13 mg/l), electrical conductivity (0.44 -0.57 µs/cm), organic carbon (10.02 -18.22%), oil and grease (96077 -587642 mg/kg) were observed to be higher across all tested soil samples in comparison to that of the control sample; 56.73 mg/l, 0.26 µs/cm, 4.25%, 1032 mg/kg in that order while that of the total nitrogen (0.08 -0.44%) and phosphorus (8.72 -12.40% ) were low

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Co-contamination by petrochemicals and heavy metals emanating from refinery operations was investigated from sludge, soil and water samples immediately around WRPC refinery, Delta State, Nigeria. Collection and assessment of environmental samples from 5 different points across the refinery and groundwater for which the pH, Electrical Conductivity, Temperature, Turbidity, TDS, TSS, Total hardness, Alkalinity, DO, BOD, Cl¯, PO 4 3¯ and bacteriological analysis were measured. The total petroleum hydrocarbon and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations were 755.291 and 22.746 mg L -1 in the water samples, 8756.148 and 311.569 mg kg -1 for the soil samples, 65346.8 and 4190.598 mg kg -1 for the sludge samples via GC-MS analysis. The effects of the release of the industrial effluents caused the increase in pH, 5.2-5.3 across the studied samples. Conductivity measurements for the sludge, soil and water samples gave readings of 0.27, 0.25 and 0.48 µs cm -1 respectively. The presence and distribution of different heavy metals varied whereby the presence of cadmium (0.139 mg/l), cobalt (0.34 mg/l) and nickel (0.606 mg/l) in the water samples were above the WHO permissible limits. The highest concentrations of iron (108.77 mg/kg) and zinc (11.072 mg/kg) where observed in the soil samples while chromium (24.25 mg/kg), lead (3.902 mg/kg), mercury (0.21 mg/kg), arsenic (0.417 mg/kg), copper (2.015 mg/kg) and manganese (82.695 mg/kg) where highest in the sludge samples. Total bacterial enumeration revealed a count of 7.29 x 10 3 (cfu/g), 1.84 x 10 3 (cfu/g) and 1.32 x 10 3 (cfu/ml) in the soil, sludge and water samples respectively. The presence and concentrations of these mixed pollutants via the activities of the refinery resulted in change of known physicochemical properties which in turn affects the vegetative and microbial flora within the area.

Activated carbon from date palm seed was analyzed to ascertain the physicochemical parameters and conduct comparative studies [with industrial activated carbons-Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) and Granular Activated Carbon (GAC)] of some heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Co, Mn and Cr) present using standard analytical techniques. The physicochemical parameters of the activated carbon as determined were: Bulk density (0.69 g/ml), Ash content (6.92%), Iodine value (10.38 mg/g), Volatile organic matter (7.63%), pH (6.92) and Moisture content (0.60%). The result also showed that date palm seed activated carbon adsorbed more of the Pb, as well as Cr better than the industrial activated carbon (GAC and PAC). The XRD result showed that the carbon has an amorphous structure which agrees with diffractogram of other activated carbons.

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