Management of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated sites in Nigeria: Current challenges and future direction

Abstract

Sites affected by petroleum hydrocarbons from oil exploitation activities have been identified as a major environmental and socioeconomic problem in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The current Nigerian regulatory instruments to manage these contaminated sites are fragmented and the roles and responsibilities of government agencies, such as the Department for Petroleum Resources (DPR), and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), are not well defined. This lack of coordination has led to ineffective land contamination policy and poor enforcement more generally. Appropriate, risk-based policy instruments are needed to improve regulatory capacity, and to enhance the regulator's ability to manage new and existing petroleum hydrocarbons contaminated sites. Lessons can be learned from countries like the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States America (USA) that have experience with the management and clean up of historically contaminated land. In this paper, we review the status of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated sites management in Nigeria and identify the gaps in existing policy and regulation. We review the contaminated land policies and regulation from the UK and the USA, and identify lessons that could be transferred to the Nigerian system. Finally, we provide a series of recommendations (e.g. source-pathway-receptor approach, soil screening criteria, clean-up funding, liability) that could enhance contaminated land legislation in Nigeria.

Effects of oil spills on fish production in the Niger Delta

“…This study corroborates the findings in [ 21 ] that oil spill is a major impediment to agricultural activities in the Niger Delta region of the country. In addition, it provides an empirical impetus for the findings in [ 38 ] for the management of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated sites in Nigeria. Nevertheless, several studies have shown that the pollution caused by oil spillage does not end with the mopping up of the spilled oil in the land area or water [ 39 ].…”

Factorial design study of total petroleum contaminated soil treatment using land farming technique

“…Furthermore, the most fitting equation which depicts both the combine interactions and individual effects of the significant input variables (pH, moisture content, mass of substrate and turning rate) against the mesured response (TPH) is provided based on the coded variables and the actual factors which are shown in Eqs. 4and (5). Either of these two equations can be used in the estimation of the predicted TPH values which is shown in column 3 of Table 9.…”

“…These activities have in one way or the other hampered the chain procedures of crude oil -drilling, refining, treatment, transportation and utilization which on the long run result in spillage, thus distorting several ecosystems and rendering most lands useless [3]. In Nigeria (especially the Niger Delta region comprising of nine states), there has been oil spills resulting in soil contamination due to poor operation and management practices [4,5]. It is reported that about 13 Mt of hydrocarbons are spilled which is caused largely by pipeline vandalism, destructive crude oil theft, operational spills and engineering failure (such as pipeline rupture), and uncivilized refining conditions [6][7][8][9][10][11].…”

Factorial Design Study of Total Petroleum Contaminated Soil Treatment Using Land Farming Technique

“…These activities have in one way or the other hampered the chain procedures of crude oil -drilling, re ning, treatment, transportation and utilization which on the long run results in spillage, thus distorting several ecosystems and rendering most lands useless [3]. In Nigeria (especially the Niger Delta region -comprising of nine states), there has been oil spills resulting in soil contamination due to poor operation and management practices [4,5]. It is reported that about 13 million tonnes of hydrocarbons are spilled which is caused largely by pipeline vandalism, destructive crude oil theft, operational spills and engineering failure (such as pipeline rupture), and uncivilized re ning conditions [6][7][8][9][10][11].…”