Assessment of Underground Water Contamination Due to Early Coal Mining Activities in Nigeria

This paper examines the level of mining activities impairment on underground water quality. Five samples were obtained three (3) from bore hole waste, one from open well and one from nearby stream. The samples obtained were analyzed based on Physical, Biological and Chemical Parameters. The result shows most of high concentration of chemical elements impairing on water quality as a result of mining activities such as Nitrate, Chloride, Phosphate, Cyanide, Fluoride, Iron, Manganese etc. Additionally the bacteriological analysis of these water samples revealed the concentration off e coli bacteria in the most boreholes, well, and the stream. The paper concluded that even though borehole were provided to augment the water supply for communities consumption but consideration was not given to streams where waste water from the mining site are normally drained into because it is use by plant and animals. There is therefore the need to treat the water before discharge into the stream. Keywords: Contamination, Mining, Parameters, Samples, Underground water

Environmental and Health risks Associated with Dental Waste Management: A Review

Proper management of dental waste is a crucial issue for maintaining human health and the environment. The waste generated in the dental clinics has the potential for spreading infections and causing diseases, so improper disposal of these dental wastes can cause harm to the dentist, the people in immediate vicinity of the dentist, waste handlers, general public and the environment through production of toxins or as by-products of the destruction process. Staff that provide dental healthcare ought to be aware of the proper handling and the system of management of dental waste used by different dental hospitals. The method of investigation adopted in the paper involved a desk study in which documents and records relating to dental waste handling were studied to obtain background information on existing dental waste management in Nigeria other countries of the world are also mentioned as examples.  Additionally, information on generation, handling, segregation, risk associated during handling and treatment of dental medical waste were sought in order to determine the best method for safe disposal. This article provides dentists with the information they need to properly dispose of mercury and amalgam waste, and provides suggestions for managing the other wastes that result from the day-to-day activities of a dental office such as: used X-ray fixers and developers; cleaners for X-ray developer systems; lead foils, shields and aprons; chemiclave/chemical sterilant solutions; disinfectants, cleaners, and other chemicals; and, general office waste. Additionally, this study may be beneficial for authorities and researchers of developing countries to work towards improving their present Dental waste management system. Keywords: Clinic, dental, disposal, environment, waste management

A media framing analysis of urban flooding in Nigeria: current narratives and implications for policy

© 2017, The Author(s). A critical element of current flood management is the importance of engaging key policy actors when policy decisions are to be made. However, there is still only limited understanding of how narratives of flood management actors may influence flood management policies, even though there is a suggestion that actors can strategically use their narratives to influence policy directions. In a developing country like Nigeria, there are still questions around lessons that can be learnt from understanding the narratives of policy actors, to unravel the complex nature of strategies and policy directions in managing urban floods. To help fill these gaps, this paper uses quantitative content analysis to explore the frame of five policy actor groups (government, local communities, business, multilateral organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs)) as expressed in local and national newspapers between 2012 and 2016 to understand their narratives of causes and strategies to solve the problem of urban flooding in Nigeria. The narratives of government, local communities and businesses align with the premise that flooding can and should be prevented whilst that of multilateral and business actors champion adaptation strategies on the basis that flooding is inevitable and hence more energy should be directed at ‘living with water’—emergency response, damage reduction and the aftermath. The study also identified areas of potential consensus and conflict between direct actors such as government and local communities on the one hand and funders on the other. Better discussion among actors aiding understanding of contemporary thinking and local realities will aid policy-making and policy implementation in the Nigerian context. An important step will be in the collaborative design of an urgently needed ‘Nigerian policy on flooding’ which currently does not exist

Indiscriminate Solid Waste Dioposal in Bauchi: Causes and Impacts on the Community and the Environment

There has been poor solid waste management in Bauchi metropolis. The paper appraised the level of indiscriminate disposal with a view to identifying the causes and the adverse effects on the community and the physical environment and make recommendations to mitigate the impacts. The study area was divided in to twelve wards and from each ward a proportionate unit of household was selected using the systematic random sampling techniques. Data were collected through purposeful questionnaire and interview and pictures were taken for on-site environmental assessment. Since there are 39,675 households in the study area, 4% of 39,675 households were taken as the sample size which is 1587 households. The study found that the area generates 286 metric tonnes daily but only 111 metric tonnes is collected for disposal. There are 205 illegal dump sites against the 89 authorised dump sites in the metropolis.  Issues like; lack of storage facilities, long distance to collection centres, poor community attitude to environmental health, availability and nearness to open spaces, weak legislation on solid waste disposal are responsible for the problems which negatively affects both the community and environment. The paper recommends an immediate joint action to evacuate the wastes already accumulated in order to restore environmental sanity in the metropolis. Then more collection centres to be provided, involvement of communities, creation of awareness on environmental health and enforcement not legislation on waste management would greatly reduce indiscriminate disposal. Key words: solid waste, indiscriminate disposal, causes, impactThe full article is available here:www.iiste.org/PDFshare/JEES-3-4-6.pd

A Comparative Analysis of Environmental Justice Between Urban Neighbourhoods

Inequality and spatial disparities in the provision of amenities and services is a serious problem that often expressed itself in the realms of social and environmental justice. This study investigated the level of environmental justice or otherwise in the provision of amenities and services in selected Northern and Southern neighbourhoods of Minna. Qualitative and quantitative data were acquired through physical surveys and direct observations of amenities and facilities to aid identification of salient features while a checklist was used to guide the research and converting field data to a digital tool using the Open Data Kit (ODK) tool. With purposive sampling technique, descriptive statistic, spatial data analysis and the Gini coefficient; it was shown that injustice in the provision of environmental amenities is both a cause and effect of distributive and procedural inequities across space. Although there is a moderate level of environmental justice (GC=0.33) on the aggregate in the study area, this is not even across sampled amenities, as there is a low level of equality in the provision of schools (GC=0.51). However, the provision of facilities like water boreholes (GC=0.37) and waste dumpsites (GC=0.28) performed fairly with moderate environmental justice; it is, worrisome to note that access roads recorded a high level of inequality (GC=0.19) – particularly as Bosso town with 40% of the residents of the metropolis only has 20% of access roads, while, Tudun Wada South is having 22% of the road for just 7% of the population. The study, therefore, recommended equitable construction of more access roads across the neighbourhoods; imbibing equity and justice in the provision of more water boreholes and waste dumpsites to help institute more sustainable development and management in Minna and similar cities