Effect of Oil Spillage on the Soil Properties

The effect of oil spillage on the properties of soil are studied in this work. The study site is around the vicinity of Imo River-2 flow station at Owaza in Abia State of Nigeria, located East of Nkali and North of Isimiri flow stations in the Niger Delta Basin. Soil samples were taken from three oil-impacted areas and an unimpacted (control) area. The contaminated areas considered are at the wellhead, far from the wellhead (100 metres from the wellhead) and very far from the wellhead (within the flow station). Soil samples were collected at surface (0-15 cm) depths. The soil properties considered were total hydrocarbon content, moisture content, soil pH, electrical conductivity, total organic carbon content, organic matter content, phosphorus content, potassium availability and nitrate-nitrogen content. The study shows that oil spillage affects the site where they occur by the reduction of the nutrients in the site (land or water).