Bioremediation of Hydrocarbon Polluted Soil in the Barrier Island Forest Ecosystem in the Niger Delta through Enhanced Natural Attenuation Process (ENAP)
Abstract
Environmental damages resulting from oil exploration and production activities has been witnessed over the years in the Niger Delta region. Soil productivity in the Island Forest Ecological Zone was investigated to establish the impacts of oil spills on this ecological zone and remedial actions to help the zone recover. Remediation by Enhanced Natural Attenuation Process (ENAP), was found to be most environmentally friendly and cost effective technology to handle the pollutions in this ecological zone of the Niger Delta region. This technology facilitated the program of microorganisms to biodegrade the hydrocarbon impacted soil. The study focused on the bio-physicochemical parameters of the oil spill polluted soil with particular reference to areas of oil production of the Island Forest Ecological Systems with those of the unaffected soil as well as their response to bioremediation interventions using ENAP. The outcomes showed clearly significant decrease in the values of the key indicator parameters, such as the Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH). But for the unenhanced process, the outcome showed low level of reduction of TPH values for the polluted soils. A degradation trend was shown with time leading to significant TPH reductions and improved key soil productivity indices. The outcome showed that the level of the nutrient status of soil in the region can be improved through the natural attenuation methods.
Key Words: bioremediation, hydrocarbon, soil, Island, ecosystem, natural, attenuation
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