Environmental pollution in the Gulf of Guinea – a regional approach

Scheren, Peter; Ibe, A. C.; Janssen, F.J.J.G.; Lemmens, A.M.C.

doi:10.1016/s0025-326x(01)00305-8

Cited by 73 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…In the same vein, impacts of pressures may be transmitted several hundred kilometres to regional and even global scale. Scheren et al (2002) point to the movement of pollutants from the wetland into regional water (Gulf of Guinea), and according to FOEI (2004) the flares from the Niger Delta have contributed more greenhouse gases than all of sub-Saharan Africa combined. This underscores the importance and relevance of researching and managing wetlands on a regional scale.…”

Section: Impact On Dependent Communities In the Nigermentioning

confidence: 99%

The Niger Delta wetlands: threats to ecosystem services, their importance to dependent communities and possible management measures

Adekola

Mitchell

2011

International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Servic

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The Niger Delta wetlands are changing rapidly, raising concern for the wetlands' health and for communities relying upon its ecosystem services. Knowledge on ecosystem service provision is important for effective ecosystem and livelihoods management, but is currently lacking for the Niger Delta. We synthesised literature and used the 'Drivers-pressure-state-impact-response' (DPSIR) framework to structure information on changes in the wetlands' ecosystem services and implications for dependent communities. The wetlands' ecosystem services are being eroded through oil and gas exploration, dredging, invasive plant infestation and wetland reclamation. This is exacerbated by rising demand for oil, population growth and weak governance. Mass fish migration, water pollution and reduction of wetland area are also evident, impacting ecosystem services and traditional livelihood systems. This has caused poverty; people have to buy goods that previously could be obtained from the wetlands. Effective wetland management will be aided by: recognition of ecosystem services' contributions to community well-being; understanding how benefits are distributed over time, space, stakeholder; and how these changes in response to pressures. Since key pressures in the wetland are anthropogenic, understanding the role of institutions in relation to the Niger Delta's ecosystem services is imperative.

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Section: Impact On Dependent Communities In the Nigermentioning

confidence: 99%

The Niger Delta wetlands: threats to ecosystem services, their importance to dependent communities and possible management measures

Adekola

Mitchell

2011

International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Servic

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“…Potentially this means that the Nyabugogo River contributes pollution to the Lake Victoria. Lake Victoria is one of the major lakes in Africa but is greatly affected by increasing loads of pollution from anthropogenic activities, rendering the massive water body eutrophic [9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Water Pollution Levels in the Nyabugogo Catchment, Rwanda

Nhapi¹

2011

TOENVIEJ

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This study aims to develop a comprehensive system of pollution monitoring and control in the Nyabugogo catchment of Rwanda, which also includes the capital city, Kigali, through locating and highlighting pollution and its sources. Pollution hotspots were identified, covering areas of both anthropogenic and natural pollution. The study focused on water quality assessment especially the identification of the critical points of pollution , pH, and Turbidity. The samples were collected, preserved and analyzed in the laboratory using standard methods whilst TDS, conductivity, turbidity and pH were measured in the field using HACH field kits. The water quality study revealed that both urbanized and rural sub-catchments have serious but different types of pollution. For example, the water from rural areas is heavily contaminated with nutrients, suspended sediments (due to a lot of erosion upstream) and organic materials whilst from urban areas the predominant pollutants are heavy metals and some nutrients. It was therefore concluded that the Nyabugogo River system is very heavily polluted and urgent action to control both rural and urban pollution is required. Further studies are required to isolate and quantify the sources of this pollution.

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“…According to Ite et al [1], every stage of petroleum resources exploration, development and production, decommissioning and rehabilitation, transportation and distribution often results in some considerable environmental impacts, human health risks and deterioration of our cultural heritage items as well as socio-economic problems within the oil producing host communities in the region. The major sources of environmental pollution in the Niger Delta region include oil spillage, pipeline explosion, gas flaring and venting, improper disposal of large volumes of petroleum-derived hazardous waste streams, such as drilling mud, oily and toxic sludge [12], equipment failure/oil spills associated with ageing facilities, sabotage of petroleum facilities, illegal oil bunkering and artisanal refining [1,5,27,31], oil well blowout, oil blast discharges and other operational discharges [1,4,5,9,10,36,44,45,46]. Historically, the two largest individual spills in Nigeria include the Royal Dutch Shell's Forcados oil export terminal tank failure in 1978 (a spillage of approximately 580,000 barrels or 92,000 m 3 of oil) and the blowout of a Texaco Funiwa-5 offshore station in 1980 (a spillage of approximately 400,000 barrels or 64,000 m 3 of oil) [47,48].…”

Section: The Niger Delta Region Of Nigeria and Petroleum Hydrocarbonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is known that chronic exposure to VOCs can impair the immune system [106] and exposure to benzene, a known human carcinogen, is often associated with hematopoietic system disorders [107,108]. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and skin and eye irritation following acute, high-level exposures [12,13]. Exposures to PAHs during pregnancy have been linked to decreased birth weight and impaired child development [14].…”

Section: Human Health Implications Of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contaminamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Ite et al [5], the inadvertent discharges of petroleum hydrocarbons and chemical-derived waste streams associated with petroleum exploration and production have caused environmental pollution, adverse environmental and/or human health problems, negative impacts on the terrestrial ecosystems, detrimental impacts on regional economy, socio-economic problems and degradation of oil producing host communities in the Niger Delta region. Some of the consequences associated with the inadvertent release of petroleum hydrocarbons into the environment are as follows: (i) atmospheric pollution associated with natural gas flaring and venting which may contribute to global climate change [4,11,12]; (ii) pollution of marine ecosystem which may result in adverse impacts on wildlife and negative impact on tourism, fishing and other related businesses; (iii) pollution of soil and controlled water sources (surface and ground water) [1,7,8,[13][14][15][16][17], (iv) socio-economic problems and deterioration of our cultural heritage items in the impacted oil producing host communities in the region [1,5,6,18,19,20,21], and (v) contaminated land, food quality issues and reduction in agricultural produce [8,22,23,24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Petroleum Hydrocarbons Contamination of Surface Water and Groundwater in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Ite¹,

Harry²,

Obadimu³

et al. 2018

JEPHH

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Petroleum hydrocarbons contamination of the environment associated with exploration, development and production operations is a common feature in oil producing nations around the world, especially in a developing country like Nigeria where the incidence of facilities sabotage, operational failures, accidental discharges, pipeline vandalization and leakages, bunkering and artisanal refining is very common. Apart from poor governance systems, poor corporate social responsibility (CSR) of multinational oil companies (MOCs), poor environmental regulation of the petroleum industry, the inability of the political elite to effectively manage petroleum hydrocarbon-derived revenue, loss of petroleum hydrocarbons resource revenue to corruption and theft, petroleum hydrocarbons contamination of the total environment (air, soil, water and biota) have impacted negatively on the human health and wellbeing of oil producing communities in the Nigeria's Niger Delta region. Findings from several studies have revealed variable negative impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons toxicity on the human health (including exposed populations), the natural environment and other ecological receptors. Over the past fifty-five years, the oil producing host communities in the Nigeria's Niger Delta region have experienced a wide range of environmental pollution, degradation, human health risks, deterioration of our cultural heritage items and socio-economic problems as a result of various activities associated with petroleum exploration, development and production. Petroleum hydrocarbons contamination of surface water and groundwater is a notable environmental and human health problem in the oil producing communities and there are several water quality issues in the Nigeria's Niger Delta region. This review examines some of the water quality issues and human health implications of petroleum hydrocarbons contamination of controlled water sources (surface-water and groundwater) in the oil producing host communities in the Nigeria's Niger Delta region. It will further highlight some of the problems of petroleum hydrocarbons contamination and/or pollution of marine environments associated with unsustainable practices of petroleum industry in the region.

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Environmental pollution in the Gulf of Guinea – a regional approach

Cited by 73 publications

References 7 publications

The Niger Delta wetlands: threats to ecosystem services, their importance to dependent communities and possible management measures

The Niger Delta wetlands: threats to ecosystem services, their importance to dependent communities and possible management measures

Assessment of Water Pollution Levels in the Nyabugogo Catchment, Rwanda

Petroleum Hydrocarbons Contamination of Surface Water and Groundwater in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

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