Oil Spills Impacts on Environmental Sustainability: A Case Study of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of oil spills in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State Nigeria over a period of two decades 2003-2023. The techniques of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information system was adopted for the study. The dataset used were Landsat images and historical oil spill data of the study area. The images were corrected for atmospheric and geometric distortions. Four remote sensing indices were adopted. These are Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Land Surface Temperature (LST), Normalized Difference Built-Up Index (NDBI). They were subjected to Spatial pattern analysis in the ArcGIS 10.5 software environment. The temporal dynamics of the indices revealed that, NDVI values ranged from -0.12 to 0.68 in 2003, -0.19 to 0.76 in 2013, and -0.17 to 0.63 in 2023 while NDWI ranged from -0.56 to 0.19 in 2003, -0.64 to 0.31 in 2013, and -0.52 to 0.29 in 2023. The NDBI range was from - 0.48 to 0.39 in 2003, -0.48 to 0.29 in 2013, and -0.44 to 0.31 in 2023. These result revealed that oil spill susceptibility changed significantly in the study area over time. It was observed that the spill that was absent in 2003 spread to four areas towards the North East in 2013, and to fifteen areas toward the South East in 2023. The oil spill index was evaluated between 2003 and 2013 and inferred a mix of increase and a little decrease in oil spill susceptibility across different regions in the study area. It was concluded that there is an imminent worsening of environmental conditions or an escalation in factors contributing to oil spill risks across the study area. A continuous periodical environmental impact assessment that will provide environmental protection, the safety of the inhabitants of the location and for improvement in oil spill responses was recommended.