Volume 2, Issue 4, July - December, 2025

Environmental evaluation studies of soil condition in a thermal desorption and incinerator plant site in Ogale, Niger Delta, Nigeria

Fidelis A Abija^1,4♦, Nkechi P Komolafe², Oke W Osigwe³

¹Geoenvironmental and Geotechnics Unit, Dept. of Geology, Federal University of Environment and Technology, Koroma/Saakpenwa, Ogoni, Nigeria
²Dept. of Geology, Dennis Osadebe University, Asaba, Nigeria
³Dept. of Integrated Science, Federal College of Education (Technical), Omoku, Nigeria
⁴Centre for Geomechanics, Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

^♦Corresponding Author
Fidelis A Abija, Geoenvironmental and Geotechnics Unit, Dept. of Geology, Federal University of Environment and Technology, Koroma/Saakpenwa, Ogoni, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Environmental evaluation assesses a perceived polluted or impacted environment to establish the state of contamination. The treatment plant comprises of thermal desorption unit and an incinerator used for the treatment of drill cuttings, contaminated soil and water. Studies involved field boring and collection of 8 soil samples within and around; and two control samples outside and away from the plant site; analysis for physico-chemical, heavy metal, organo-pollutants and microbial concentrations over the wet and dry seasons using the APHA (4500-H+ B) APHA 311B methods and use of atomic adsorption spectrophotometer. Organo - chemical species depicted a Total organic content ranging from 0.72 – 11.85(mg/kg) with a mean of 4.46(mg/kg) in the 0 – 15cm soil samples and 0.72 – 7.94(mg/kg) averaging 2.53(mg/kg) in the 15 – 30cm depth samples and 0.72 – 7.94(mg/kg) with average of 2.53(mg/kg) in the dry season and 0.283 - 0.858(mg/kg) with a mean of 0.551(mg/kg), in the top soil samples and 0.244 - 0.614 with a mean of 0.404 in the bottom soil samples in the wet season. The total hydrocarbon content varies from 0.53 – 2.36(mg/kg) with average of 1.11(mg/kg) in the top soil samples and 0.27 – 1.94(mg/kg) with average of 0.87(mg/kg) in the bottom soil samples during the dry season. The composition of the total hydrocarbon content in top soil samples during the wet season range from 0.68 - 2.68(mg/kg) with a mean of 1.151(mg/kg). The results of the bottom soil samples show a range of 0.53 – 2.4(mg/kg) with a 2.4 mean of 1.016(mg/kg) in the wet season. The total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) ranges from 0.08 – 1.03(mg/kg) with average of 0.47(mg/kg) in the top soil samples and 0.05 – 0.79(mg/kg) with average value of 0.364(mg/kg) in the bottom samples during the dry season. The top soil samples during the wet season had TPH values ranging from 0.24 - 0.99(mg/kg) with average 0.565(mg/kg) while the bottom soil samples recorded 0.29 - 0.73(mg/kg) with average of 0.488(mg/kg) during the wet season. Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) and BTEX were not detected throughout the study periods. Results show that there is no anthropogenic contamination.

Keywords: Environmental evaluation, nutrient ions, heavy metals, organocompounds, soil microbes

Discovery Nature, 2025, 2(4), e12dn3137

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v2i4.e12dn3137

Published: 27 October 2025