Theoretical Application of Decision Support System in Petroleum Contaminated Ogoniland in South-Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Land is an indispensable natural resource made up of soil and groundwater, both of which have many functions for which we depend on, support of agricultural activities, engineering structures, portable water for domestic and industrial use as well as sustenance of flora and fauna in order to maintain favorable ecosystem. Contaminants in land pose a number of threats to public health and the environment; other natural resources; and have detrimental effects on property such as buildings, crops and live stocks. The most effective method of dealing with these contaminants is to cleaning up and returning the sites to beneficial use. The cleanup process involves making a choice from amongst competing remediation methods, where the wrong choice may have disastrous social, economic and environmental impact. This work presents the development of a Decision Support System via thorough literature survey. The Developed DSS was applied to petroleum contaminated site in Ogoniland South-East Nigeria. Finally, Air sparging, phyto-remediation and soil vapour extraction methods were systematically recommended.