CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Petroleum hydrocarbons are used
generally in our environment as fuel and chemicalcompounds. The
uncontrolled release of petroleum hydrocarbons negatively impacts many
of our soi1 and water resources. The contamination can result from
leaking Underground Storage Tanks (UST), petroleum refineries and bulk
storage facilities, broken oil pipelines, spills of petroleum products
in chemical plants and transportation processes as well as commercial
and industrial uses(automobile workshops)under which this research work
falls into. The risks of explosion and fire are also serious threats to
the environment.
Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH)
concentration is a global parameter includingmany derived petroleum
products, commonly applied to establishtarget soil cleanup levels
implemented by several regulatoryagencies (Presidency Ministry, 2005;
VROM, 2012; Weisman, 1998).The Standard ISO 16703 (ISO,2004) is an
internationally acceptedmethod to obtain TPHconcentrations from C10 to
C40, althoughthere are other standards currently in use
(Rosano-Hernández et al., 2012).
The Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) has reported that due to the uncontrolled release of petroleum
hydrocarbons into the environment, there has been a considerable amount
of contamination in soil and groundwater. As reported by Gruiz and
Kriston (1995) an amount of 6,000,000 tons petroleum waste enters into
the environment each year causing serious environmental problems.
Even if the problems associated with
fuel storage and distribution are solved, contamination incidental to
production and commercial usage would continue to threaten groundwater
supplies. Many manufacturing processes necessarily produce water and
sludge that are contaminated with hydrocarbons.
High concentration levels of
hydrocarbons present in contaminated sites could pose a health risk to
humans, plants and animal lives. In recent years, the release of
hazardous and toxic substances into the soil, water, sediment and air in
Niger Delta, Nigeria has been a widespread problem. The economy of
Nigeria, the most populous, black African country is largely dependent
on crude oil tapped from the Niger Deltaregion. Niger Delta has a
population of about 30 million and an estimated 2.8 million barrels of
crude oil per day come from this region.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
In evaluating the relevance of pollution
cleanup standards, thereare many things that must be considered. Risk
factors such as fate, transport, and toxicity of constituents, and
monetary factors such as expected cost of remediation are but just afew
of the considerations that must be addressed in such an endeavor.This
hypothesis evaluates, from a risk and cost perspective, the use of TPH
as a cleanupstandard for remediation of petroleum contaminated soils and
compares the use of a TPHstandard to a compound specific standard. This
thesis also analyzes sampling and analysisData contained in the
Installation Restoration Program Information Management System(IRPIMS)
database to evaluate the use of the compounds upon which current
statestandards are based.
1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The scope of this study covers the
sampling exercise, field study, a laboratory analysis of samples
obtained and interpretation of laboratory data using statistical,
graphical illustration. The field study was carried out in Warri
Metropolis (Warri, Effurun, Ughelli and Udu), Delta State. Soil samples
were collected at different points in the workshops (main workshop and
10metres away from the main workshop).
1.4 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
The aim of this study is to determine
the concentration levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in soils
found in automobile shop (keke, car, bikes, and truck workshops).
Objectives:
- The objective of this work is to ascertain the level of TPHin analyzed samples.
- To determine the concentration of TPHin the selected locations ofWarri Metropolis (Warri, Effurun, Ughelli and Udu).
- To evaluate the impact of TPH on soil consequently, the risk posed to public health as a result of the identified pollution.