Clean-up Exercise Research Articles

Contaminated land and wetland remediation in Nigeria: Opportunities for sustainable livelihood creation

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is one of the most crude oil impacted deltas globally. The region has experienced over five decades of oil related contamination of the total environment (air, soil, water and biota). In 2011, UNEP released a seminal report on oil impact on Ogoniland environments, which up scaled demands for urgent clean up and restoration of degraded bio-resource rich environments of the Niger Delta, starting from Ogoniland. The Nigerian Government demonstrated renewed political will to remediate contaminated sites in Ogoniland with a launch of the clean-up exercise in June 2016. Stakeholders' expectations from the clean-up include not only environmental remediation but also restoration and creation of sustainable livelihood opportunities to reduce poverty in the region. Most studies have focused on the environmental restoration aspect and identified bioremediation as the likely appropriate remediation approach for Ogoniland, given its low environmental footprints, and low-cost burden on the weak and overstretched economy of Nigeria. This study mapped opportunities for sustainable livelihood creation during the Ogoniland remediation and restoration exercise. Given the value chain of bioremediation and its ancillary activities, the study analysed opportunities and mechanisms for skilled and unskilled job creation and prospects for sustainable livelihoods and knock-on effects. It is anticipated that the clean-up process would lead to economic prosperity and mitigate resource-driven conflicts in the Niger Delta. The study provides an exemplar for waste-to-wealth transformation in regions where natural resource mining has impacted communities, and has dislocated local economies and age-old livelihood structures.

Drinking Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Promotion Interventions in Two Slum Communities in Central Uganda.

Poor water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) continue to contribute to the high prevalence of diarrhoeal diseases in low-income countries such as Uganda particularly in slums. We implemented a 3-year WASH project in two urban slums in Uganda with a focus on safe drinking water and improvement in sanitation. The project implemented community and school interventions in addition to capacity building initiatives. Community interventions included home improvement campaigns, clean-up exercises, water quality assessment, promotion of drinking safe water through household point-of-use chlorination, promotion of hand washing, and support towards solid waste management. In schools, the project supported health clubs and provided them with “talking compound” messages. The capacity building initiatives undertaken included training of youth and community health workers. Project evaluation revealed several improvements in WASH status of the slums including increase in piped water usage from 38% to 86%, reduction in use of unprotected water sources from 30% to 2%, reduction in indiscriminate disposal of solid waste from 18% to 2%, and increase in satisfaction with solid waste management services from 40% to 92%. Such proactive and sustainable community interventions have the potential to not only improve lives of slum inhabitants in developing countries but also create lasting impact.

Health Risk Assessment on Heavy Metals Ingestion through Groundwater Drinking Pathway for Residents in an Oil and Gas Producing Area of Rivers State, Nigeria

In the study, health risk assessment on heavy metals ingestion was presented through the groundwater drinking pathway for residents in an oil and gas producing area of Rivers State, Nigeria. The level of the ground water pollution was examined, the quality of the borehole and the well water was assessed and the quality of the ground water pathway for the resident in the oil and gas producing area was determined and compared with the national and international standards for the drinking water. This study adopted both the field and laboratory experimental analysis of physical and chemical parameters. Water samples were analyzed for Physico-chemical parameters following acceptable methods to determine the compliance, and the results were analyzed according to drinking water guidelines. Interestingly, the results show that the ground water contained high amounts of turbidity (21.5 NTU, 23.00 NTU and 19.0 NTU in the borehole water and well water), iron (5.3 mg/L in the ground water and 6.98 mg/L in the borehole water) and pHs of all water samples were acidic in the study area. These results show that ground waters including the borehole and the well waters of the study area had acquired reasonable levels of pollution. Whereas, other values were found to be lower or above and corresponding to the acceptable threshold limit values for the drinking water set by consensus standards. A high value of turbidity due to suspended minerals is the cause for milky-white colour. Hence, ground waters in the study area are mainly unsuitable for drinking (containing iron, pH and turbidity). This study clearly advises that some health deteriorating chemicals in the drinking water were at dangerous level and; therefore, the water quality could be a major health menace for residents of the oil and gas producing area of Rivers state. Furthermore, additional researches in medical test to ascertain the health of the people are recommended in this study. Comprehensive groundwater monitoring and adequate treatment should be implemented. The government should carry out clean-up exercise immediately because there is oil spill to prevent infiltration of oil into the groundwater. There is also a need for the continuous monitoring and auditing of water quality in the oil producing areas so as to protect the men and the environment.

Hyperspectral and Radar Airborne Imagery over Controlled Release of Oil at Sea.

Remote sensing techniques are commonly used by Oil and Gas companies to monitor hydrocarbon on the ocean surface. The interest lies not only in exploration but also in the monitoring of the maritime environment. Occurrence of natural seeps on the sea surface is a key indicator of the presence of mature source rock in the subsurface. These natural seeps, as well as the oil slicks, are commonly detected using radar sensors but the addition of optical imagery can deliver extra information such as thickness and composition of the detected oil, which is critical for both exploration purposes and efficient cleanup operations. Today, state-of-the-art approaches combine multiple data collected by optical and radar sensors embedded on-board different airborne and spaceborne platforms, to ensure wide spatial coverage and high frequency revisit time. Multi-wavelength imaging system may create a breakthrough in remote sensing applications, but it requires adapted processing techniques that need to be developed. To explore performances offered by multi-wavelength radar and optical sensors for oil slick monitoring, remote sensing data have been collected by SETHI (Système Expérimental de Télédection Hyperfréquence Imageur), the airborne system developed by ONERA (the French Aerospace Lab), during an oil spill cleanup exercise carried out in 2015 in the North Sea, Europe. The uniqueness of this dataset lies in its high spatial resolution, low noise level and quasi-simultaneous acquisitions of different part of the EM spectrum. Specific processing techniques have been developed to extract meaningful information associated with oil-covered sea surface. Analysis of this unique and rich dataset demonstrates that remote sensing imagery, collected in both optical and microwave domains, allows estimating slick surface properties such as the age of the emulsion released at sea, the spatial abundance of oil and the relative concentration of hydrocarbons remaining on the sea surface.

Governance and regulatory strategies beyond the state: stakeholder participation and the ecological restoration of Ogoniland

ABSTRACTIn June 2016, the Nigerian government finally launched the massive ecological restoration programme of Ogoniland in the Niger Delta. This restoration programme is based on the 2011 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland Report which found that the ecological and consequential damages caused by oil exploration activities in Ogoniland were severe and virtually unparalleled elsewhere in the world. The state-based regulatory system had failed over the years to ensure the restoration of Ogoniland. The report therefore recommended that the ecological restoration of the said environment (which, according to UNEP, could ‘prove to be the world’s most wide-ranging and long-term oil clean-up exercise ever undertaken’) be driven broadly by a multi-stakeholder governance approach. This UNEP proposed partnership between state and non-state actors represents a good example of environmental governance beyond the state aimed at long-term eco-restoration. This article is therefore a contribution to the discourse on emerging trends in eco-restoration governance strategies by providing a critical analysis of the UNEP-led multi-stakeholder participatory approach to eco-restoration governance in Ogoniland. It critically appraises the potency of UNEP’s stakeholder-driven governance model as a requirement for a successful eco-restoration exercise, especially against the backdrop of, and as a better alternative to, the traditional state-driven approach.

Dengue Outbreak in Mombasa City, Kenya, 2013-2014: Entomologic Investigations.

Dengue outbreaks were first reported in East Africa in the late 1970s to early 1980s including the 1982 outbreak on the Kenyan coast. In 2011, dengue outbreaks occurred in Mandera in northern Kenya and subsequently in Mombasa city along the Kenyan coast in 2013–2014. Following laboratory confirmation of dengue fever cases, an entomologic investigation was conducted to establish the mosquito species, and densities, causing the outbreak. Affected parts of the city were identified with the help of public health officials. Adult Ae. aegypti mosquitoes were collected using various tools, processed and screened for dengue virus (DENV) by cell culture and RT-PCR. All containers in every accessible house and compound within affected suburbs were inspected for immatures. A total of 2,065 Ae. aegypti adults were collected and 192 houses and 1,676 containers inspected. An overall house index of 22%, container index, 31.0% (indoor = 19; outdoor = 43) and Breteau index, 270.1, were observed, suggesting that the risk of dengue transmission was high. Overall, jerry cans were the most productive containers (18%), followed by drums (17%), buckets (16%), tires (14%) and tanks (10%). However, each site had specific most-productive container-types such as tanks (17%) in Kizingo; Drums in Nyali (30%) and Changamwe (33%), plastic basins (35%) in Nyali-B and plastic buckets (81%) in Ganjoni. We recommend that for effective control of the dengue vector in Mombasa city, all container types would be targeted. Measures would include proper covering of water storage containers and eliminating discarded containers outdoors through a public participatory environmental clean-up exercise. Providing reliable piped water to all households would minimize the need for water storage and reduce aquatic habitats. Isolation of DENV from male Ae. aegypti mosquitoes is a first observation in Kenya and provides further evidence that transovarial transmission may have a role in DENV circulation and/or maintenance in the environment.

‘We will make sure they are rehabilitated’: Nation-building and Social Engineering in Operation Clean-up, Zimbabwe, 1983

In 1983, three years into independence, the police and army went on a blitz arresting women and vagrants in Zimbabwe. After being screened at police stations and prisons, those who failed to prove that they were ‘living honestly’ were earmarked for resettlement. Furthermore, the Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs was adamant that those rounded up were to be ‘rehabilitated’. This essay considers how one might understand the use of violence against women and ‘vagrant’ men in 1983. It emphasises that, while the 1983 Clean-up exercise should be understood as part of broader gender struggles in the immediate postcolonial period, it was also an example of little-studied postcolonial efforts towards social engineering. The essay explores the authorities’ belief in their right to reform and rehabilitate those rounded up. Finally, it suggests that this social engineering process was integral to early efforts at nation-building by the new ruling elites.

Designing legacy and the legacy of design: London 2012 and the Regeneration Games

The design of an urban area chosen to host a mega-event such as the Summer Olympics begs fundamental questions of scale, process and context. Not least since this is an international event whose physical impact is highly localised, where the tension between ‘permanent’ architecture, landscape and the temporal is being played out over an extended period of time. This paper covers the period from 2003 when the UK bid for the 2012 Games, followed by its award in 2005, from when the construction, compulsory land purchase and clean-up exercise began in earnest. Writing in the initial post-event legacy stage of this major placemaking project means that assessing any notions of sustainability and regeneration – and the role of design therein – is necessarliy provisional. Current visions and plans produced by the agencies responsible for transforming this event site into an established community project forward until 2030 so, in regeneration terms, a twenty-five year process is under way.

Levels and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in selected irrigated urban agricultural soils in Accra, Ghana

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous organic pollutants in urban environments including urban soils. Elevated concentrations of PAHs in urban soils are caused by incomplete combustion of petroleum and coal. This study assesses 16 individual PAH compounds in a total of 112 surficial soil samples. The objective was to assess and compare the levels of contamination as well as examine the main sources of PAHs in four urban agricultural soils using molecular ratios of some specific hydrocarbons. The study showed that PAH levels in soil ranged from 1.23 ng/kg in soil collected from Dzorwulu to 2.95 ng/kg in soil collected from Ghana Broadcasting Cooperation (GBC) vegetable irrigation site. Of the total PAHs, the more water soluble PAHs (2–4 rings), which tend to be concentrated in the vapour phase were found to dominate the soils. The percentage dominance were Dzorwulu (52.8 %), Marine Drive (62.5 %), CSIR (53.2 %) and GBC (49.2 %). However, there were significant levels of the more carcinogenic PAHs (5–6 rings) present with percentages as 47.1, 37.5 46.8 and 50.8 % for Dzorwulu, Marine Drive, CSIR and GBC vegetable irrigation sites, respectively, and therefore, may impact negatively on public health. Based on the classification by the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation in Pulawy, Poland, urban soils in Accra could be classified as contaminated to different levels. Molecular ratios of Flu/pyr and PA/Ant were calculated to determine the main sources of PAHs. Results showed that PAHs could originate mainly from incomplete combustion of petroleum products, especially from atmospheric fallout from automobile exhausts. The study further showed that B(a)P concentration of 0.05 ng/kg in soil from GBC urban vegetable irrigation site requires immediate clean-up exercise and monitoring to mitigate human health impact.

Sustainable sanitation systems for low income urban areas – A case of the city of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Lack of basic sanitation systems threaten environmental and human health in low income urban communities. In 2005, the Government of Zimbabwe carried out a cleanup exercise in urban areas involving the destruction of illegal structures which left many people homeless. As a solution to this problem, the government embarked on an extensive housing construction exercise on unserviced land; the ‘Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle’ development programme. The objective of this paper was to investigate the sanitation status in one such area (Cowdray Park Extension, Bulawayo) and determine a sustainable sanitation system for the improved collection of wastewater from the unserviced low income urban area. The study was carried out between October 2010 and February 2011. The sanitation status as well as the residents’ preferences for improved sanitation and the economic set up of the community for the study area was determined through use of questionnaires to the residents. The local authority was then consulted to recommend sanitation facilities and system for the area that met regulatory requirements. A literature study identified sanitation options that were applicable to low income and high density urban areas. The baseline survey found that 61% of the people in the study area lacked sanitation facilities and practiced open defecation. The majority of the residents (70%) preferred ‘flush and discharge’ system sanitation facilities, which was in line with the local council’s requirements. On-site sanitation options were found not to be feasible as per the council regulations and the findings of the literature study, for areas with a high density of houses. Therefore a sewerage system was designed using the conventional sewerage design approach as well as the simplified sewerage design approach in order to determine the collection system that would best meet the needs of the community. In conclusion, the community was in dire need of a sanitation system and a waterborne offsite sanitation system was found to be a feasible option. The simplified sewerage system was found to deliver the same hydraulic benefits for collecting wastewater as the conventional but was 33% cheaper to construct and hence more affordable for the community. It was recommended that stringent environmental monitoring of the sanitation system be put in place to minimise any potential environmental impacts.

Evaluation of on-shore oil spill remediation operations in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Most oil producing regions in the world today are experiencing serious hydrocarbon spillages on land and water. The problem is more prevalent in developing countries where greater premium is always placed on the oil money than on the environment and the inhabitants of oil producing regions. The study is an attempt to unravel the effectiveness of clean-up exercises undertaken by oil companies each time oil spillage occurs. The results show that two years after the programme the efficiency level of the remediation exercise is very low as evidenced by the heavy presence of microbiological accumulation in the soil. Thus, there is need for more thoroughness in the clean-up exercise. Monitoring agencies should also be more efficient while respective oil companies need to be more responsive so as to avert the attendant violent protests from the affected communities.

Phagocytic Signaling: You Can Touch, but You Can't Eat

The ability of phagocytes to discriminate between viable/healthy and apoptotic/foreign/abnormal cells is of fundamental importance; a recent study provides new molecular insights into the function of CD47-SIRP alpha signaling in this discrimination.

Lead and other metals in dried fish from Nigerian markets.

The Nigerian economy had remarkable industrial growth between 1970 and 1980 and industrialization and urbanization have been sustained albeit at a slower rate. Nevertheless, waste management remains grossly underdeveloped. Environmental concern is only a recent phenomenon, resulting thus far in the launching of a monthly clean-up campaign in 1984 and the establishment of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) in 1988. The level of public awareness has not been encouraging. The indiscriminate discharge of largely untreated factory and urban effluents has continued. Streets and home surroundings become littered soon after clean-up exercises. Inadequate facilities contribute to the unwholesome situation. Refuse collecting centers are mostly without any holding containers, and solid wastes, the focus of the monthly clean-up, are left on the bare ground. Heavy automobile traffic and high lead content of the local automobile fuels have not helped matters. Heavy metals in the human environment are of global concern. In developed countries, limits of concentrations in fish and other foods have been set to safeguard public health, but Nigeria has yet to set any standards because of lack of baseline data. Within the last decade, scientists have been reporting on heavy metal levels in fish from the aquatic environment ofmore » Nigeria. Among the metals, lead was the most prominent, with a mean value comparable to the set limits in Great Britain and New Zealand. The present study was aimed at further establishing the levels of contamination in fish by lead and other metals in the Nigerian aquatic systems. Smoke-dried fish, being the most consumed by the local population, was chosen for the survey on the levels of cadmium, cobalt, copper, chromium, iron, manganese, lead and zinc. Possible surface contamination arising from observed poor handling practices was also investigated. 18 refs., 1 fig., 4 tabs.« less