Effects of Open Cast Quarrying Technique on Vegetation Cover and the Environment in South-Eastern Nigeria

Quarrying activities happen to cause huge losses in land and vegetation cover due to the fact that its operations are usually on a large scale and the sites are abandoned after the resources have become depleted. This study examined the open cast quarrying technique and also the spatial pattern of the quarrying activities and their locations in the study area. Direct field measurement was utilized for the study using a Surveyors tape to measure the lateral extent of degraded land. Garmin eTrex GPS receiver was used to obtain the co˗ordinates of the quarry sites. Geographical Information System and Global Positioning System were used for producing a map of the area and fixing the geographic positions of the locations of the quarry sites respectively. The data so collected were collated and analysed for 27 quarry locations selected from six local government areas where quarrying activities are heavily concentrated and currently active. The result of the study obtained from the principal component analysis showed that there is a significant pattern in the quarrying activities and their locations with explained variance of (82.91 %). The spatial pattern and locations of the quarrying activities in the study area showed: Ohaukwu (11), Ivo (2), Ishielu (1), Ezza North (5), Afikpo North (4) and Izzi (4).The parameters that described the pattern of quarrying activities were:  the area of pit covered (0.91), percentage of quarrying area (0.93), numbers of pit covered (0.83), and villages involved (0.64).  The study also revealed that the total area of vegetation cover destroyed was 402.855 hectares. Field measurements showed that the percentages of land lost in the local government areas were quarrying activities are intensified are as follows: Ohaukwu 28.7%, Ishielu 9.3%, Ivo 35.2%, Afikpo North 14. 7%, Ezza  North 8.0% and Izzi 3.7%. The study recommended that the Government and public agencies concerned should develop and enforce policies and strategies to achieve a balanced, coordinated and sustainable development in the State

Road Accident and its Impacts on the Environment: The Case of Oil Tanker Accident in the South-East Nigeria

The study focused on revealing the impact of road accident on the environment. A study of oil tanker accident, which is common in the country, is carried out in the south east Nigeria. The recorded available data on oil tanker accident were sourced from Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Federal Road Safety Corp. The data was subjected to descriptive statistics and qualitatively analyzed. Oil tanker accident record for nine incidences in the south east Nigeria shows that 533 people were burn died, 317 people injured, total area spillage of 12250m2, and about #807.81 Million of property damaged. The researcher discovered the impact of oil tanker accidents as; air pollution, climate change, soil quality and destroyed vegetation, noise, distortion of urban landscape and agricultural land, health hazard. The researcher summarized that oil tanker accidents have caused enormous environmental, human and material losses. The study therefore suggests traffic management. In this case, oil tanker should not be allowed to ply on the road during peak periods with other kinds of vehicles. There should be a time frame preferably from 9pm to 6am when the road is less congested from pedestrian and other kinds of vehicular movement. This could serve as a temporary measure while the country should carry out the implementation plan of reviving railway transportation in the country so that petroleum products could be convey by train services as it was in the early days. This will drastically reduce oil tanker accident and its impact on the environment