Environmental and Health Impact of Solid Waste Disposal in Umuahia and Environs, Southeast, Nigeria

Indiscriminate disposal of solid waste in dumpsites located within urban areas has proved to be a problem to nearby residents in most developing cities of the world, Umuahia is no exception. Open dumps have environmental safeguards; they can pose major public health threats and environmental effects in urban cities. Therefore, this paper presents the findings of a research carried out in Umuahia municipal area in Abia State to determine the environmental and health impacts of solid waste disposal at Umuahia gate, Upstair line, Ahia Eke, New Timber gate, Government College first gate, etc dumpsites on the surrounding human settlements and markets. Data were collected from nearby dumpsite household residents less than 30 m and far away household residents greater than 30 m through interviews and personal observations were used to collect some of the data. Descriptive statistics involving tables, graphs and figures were used to present and analyze the data. The educational level of respondents of nearby residents (NBR) ranges from 53.00 to 205.00 with total of 398 and far away residents (FAR) are between 53.00 and 110.00 with total of 233.00. The percentage for primary level, high education and not education is 39.60%, 16.80% and 43.60% respectively. The disposal methods used by respondents ranges from 35.00 to 128.00 with percentage between 9.00 to 32.00 for NBR and 23.00 to 85.00 with 10.00% to 36.00% for FAR. Results show that both NBR and FAR suffered from related diseases such as malaria, chest pains, diarrhea and cholera, due to the location of the dumpsite closer to their settlements.Keywords: Environment; Health; Solid Waste Disposal; Dumpsit

Composition of Smectite from Maastrichtian Sediment of the Afikpo Basin, southeast Nigeria

The sand, silt, shale and clay fractions soils derived from Maastrichtian sediments in the Afikpo Basin, southeastern Nigeria exhibit unusually high cation-exchange capacities. Smectite was identified by X-ray diffraction in all sample fractions and was selectively dissolved by treatment with 1HCl and 0.5 NaOH. Structural formulae, based on chemical analysis of the dissolved material, suggest that the smectite is intermediate in composition between a di- and a trioctahedral mineral and that the octahedral cation occupancy, together with the number of Mg and Fe atoms per unit cell, decreases with decrease in particle size of the soil fraction examined. The mean formula for the smectite in the clay separate is: [(M+= 0.40, Si = 3.33, Al = 0.67), (Al = 1.07, Fe2+= 0.09, Fe3+= 0.41, Mg = 0.82)] O10(OH)2. Similar analysis of smectite present in clay-size material separate from weathered granitic rock taken from the bases of the soilprofiles showed that it had close to the full trioctahedral inherited from the weathered granites.The clay mineralogy of the soils was affected by inherited smectite, probably of hydrothermal of deuteric origin. This mineral is unstable in the soil environment and, although its alteration products are fairly uniform in composition.Keywords: Dissolution, Granitic, Octahedral, Smectite, Soi

Assessment of some physicochemical properties of groundwater quality in Ikwuano Region of southeastern Nigeria

The objective of this study has been carried out to assess the ground water quality of Ikwuano region southeastern Nigeria for drinking and irrigational purposes using standard method. Data obtained show that, the pH and levels of electrical conductivity, total hardness, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, nitrate,orthophosphate, fluorides and SAR ranged from 7.50-8.00, 500-1000μS/cm, 150-400mg/l, 55-110mg/l, 130-250mg/l, 8.50- 37.00mg/l, 5.00-52.00mg/l, 2.00-22.00mg/l, 20.00-120mg/l, 10-100μg/l, 0.40-2.00mg/l and 0.80-13.00meq/l respectively. Percentage Na values range between 5.00-48.00%. Sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) values showed a range of 0.80to13.00meq/L. The maximum concentration of SAR 13.00meq /L was recorded at Umugo and minimum concentration of 0.80meq /L was recorded at Ndoro. The calculated values of SAR integrated with the Electrical Conductivity indicated that the ground water in the study area can be utilized for irrigation purpose without any threat of imposition of any hazard (saline or alkaline hazard) to crop soils. Thus, the analytical data from the study area confirms that ground water present in the study area is suitable for domestic and irrigational purposes.Keywords: Cations, SAR, Percent Sodium, Fluorosi

Hydrogeochemical effects of oil shale on soil and water quality in Mbano Area, Southeast, Nigeria

Environmental pollution from solid waste landfillings or exposure is of major concern to both the environmentalists and individual citizens. The necessity for studying contaminant generation and control is becoming more urgent in view of the risks associated with such sites. Oil shale and its tailing at Umuezeala Nsu and Umualumaku, were chosen as a case study. Soil samples, water samples and oil shale and its tailings were collected from the site and analyzed for their compositions. The analytical results revealed that the soil and groundwater were contaminated to various degrees by several chemicals or pollutants from the oil shale exposure and its tailings. The major environmental problems associated with the area were acidification of soil and groundwater, high content of heavy metals and sulphate in soil and groundwater and organic contamination of soil and in particular, carcinogenous benzo[a] pyrene and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Geochemical method was applied to reveal the sources of the contaminants. Soil and groundwater contamination show that the nearer the sampling area to the oil shale or its tailing, the heavier the soil and groundwater contamination. The different water sample compositions have same chemical characteristics. The soil and water samples were analyzed for 14 PAHs. The result shows that PAHs were retained mostly in the soil, which consisted of mainly naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene and anthracene. Analysis for PAHs source revealed that they were also from the oil shale and its tailing. Keywords: oil shale waste, soil contamination, groundwater contamination, PAH

Geochemical characteristics of immature coal from Ihioma, Southeastern Nigeria and their implication for the paleoenvironment

In this study investigation of lignite samples from coal mire of Ihioma mine in Orlu, Nigeria have been subjected to geochemical analysis to determine their mineralogical characteristics and paleodepositional environment. Petrographic data of composite samples indicate that these lignites were dominated by carbonate minerals followed by sulfides and clay minerals. Framboidal pyrites have also been recorded in the Ihioma lignite samples which reveals marine incursion into the study area. The occurrence of clay mineral in cell cavities, fissures and cracks indicates authigenic and syn-depositional origin of the Ihioma lignite. The study reveals Ihioma lignites deposited under terrestrial oxic to marine, terrestrial oxic to sub-oxic condition. Keywords: Geochemistry, Petrographic, Environment, XRD, XRF, Lignite, Ihioma

Evaluation of kaolin deposits in Maastrichtian formations of the afikpo basin, southeastern Nigeria

The study area lies within latitude 5o20ˈ to 6o00ˈN and longitude 7o40ˈ to 7o60ˈE. Kaolin or china clay, a pure, soft, white clay of variable but usually low plasticity that retains its white color when fired. The chief constituent of kaolin is the mineral kaolinite, a hydrous aluminum silicate, Al2Si2O5(OH)4, formed by the decomposition of aluminum silicates, particularly feldspar. Kaolinite is the dominant clay mineral in both Formations followed by minor amounts of illite and montmorillonite. The plasticity values show samples no. (AMV2, NKA2 and NKA 3) were medium plastic, samples no. (AMV1, OBO1, OBO2, OKO, NKA1 and AMA) are low plastic, clays with plasticity, permits it to be shaped or moulded when mixed with water, and have sufficient wet and air dried tensile strength to maintain their shape after forming. Kaolinite values ranges from 70.40 to 80.00% as the major clay mineral present in both Formations. It mainly occurs in open environments with high acidic content. Under acidic, warm, tropical conditions, smectite and marine type clay lose their characteristic ions (K+ Na +, Ca2+, and Fe2+) while H+ is added to produce kaolinite. Due to its stability in low Ph waters, it may be converted to illite during diagenesis in the presence of alkaline connate water. Keywords: Kaolin, Mineral, Evaluation, XRD, Maastrichtian, Afikpo