Akinbola and Orimoloye NJSS 27 2017 335 - 344

POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF NATURAL GAS PIPELINE

CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION ON LAND/SOIL QUALITY IN
SOUTH EASTERN NIGERIA
Akinbola, G. E. and *Orimoloye, J. R.
Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
*Correspondence: jul iusorimoloyegmail .com Phone: +2348025602428

ABSTRACT
The quest to make available, cheaper, cleaner, more efficient and more reliable sources of energy and
feedstock for industrial and domestic uses, in Aba-Owerrinta axes of Abia State, Southeastern Nigeria
in a developmental process cannot be over emphasized. This has necessitated the construction and in-
stallation of a 12” diameter natural gas pipeline with a l00 m wide right of way for a distance of 26 km
by Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG). Though natural gas is a more environmental friendly fuel than other fossil
fuels, the construction, installation and operation of the pipeline will invariably have impacts on the
land/soil environment. Hence, the importance of an assessment of the envisaged impacts of the various
stages of the gas project on the land/soil quality among other factors, against which the efficiency of the
environmental management plan can be measured in the future. The identified soil types were classified
as Inceptisols and Ultisols (Soil Taxonomy) and Fluvisols and Nitosols (WRB). The major potential
impacts identified include loss of topsoil, modification of overland drainage pattern, accelerated ero-
sion, land contamination and quality impairment through increased industrial activities and discharge
of waste water and gaseous effluents and alteration in land use pattern. Mitigation measures suggested
include, limiting of land clearing to required area, re-vegetation and proper disposal of wastes, among
others.
INTRODUCTION

The challenges of ever increasing need for and sometimes impossible to regenerate. Land
energy supply globally and locally, and the at- degradation in any environment can be caused
tendant consequences of exploitation of the en- as a result of one or combination of deforesta-
ergy resources such as crude oil and natural gas tion/land clearing, poor land management,
cannot be successfully addressed without due mining, urbanization, irrigation, fires etc. The
consideration for the environment (vegetation, effects of these can be seen in form of accel-
land, soil, climate, hydrology, etc.). The absence erated erosion, loss of organic matter, nutrient
of this inevitably leads to land/environmental removal, salinization, alkalinisation, destruction
degradation. Land degradation is more human of soil structure, etc. These invariably impact
induced than natural. It results in reduced capa- negatively on the quality of land to produce and
bility of land to supply human needs. It is an environmental conservation.
insidious disease that threatens the quality of Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is
life of humans. Land/soil is very vulnerable, and concerned with the systematic identification
once lost or damaged, it is extremely difficult and evaluation of the potential impacts (effects),
335
 Potential Impacts of Natural Gas Pipeline Construction

both beneficial and harmful, of proposed pro- MATERIALS AND METHODS

jects, plans, programmes or legislative actions
relating to the physical, chemical, biological, Site description
cultural, and socio-economic components of the The area of study traverses at least eight (8)
total environment (Canter, 1996; Wang et al., autonomous communities, starting from Asa
2006). According to World Resource Institute Umumgbede (Lat.5° 6’ 47.7” N and long. 7°
(1992), African land degradation is accounted 19’ 10.5” E) in Aba North Local Government
for by water erosion (46 %), wind erosion (39 Area (LGA) to Owerrinta (Lat.5° 18’ 12.8” N
%), chemical degradation (12 %) and physical and long. 70 17’ 27.5” E) in Isiala Ngwa LGA
degradation 4%). Also, a United Nations Envi- in Abia State, South East, Nigeria. It covers a
ronment Programme (UNEP, 2011), report on distance of about 26 km. The soils in the site
environmental assessment of South eastern Ni- are derived from coastal plain sands that are of
geria, especially Ogoni land, showed that drink- quatemary Oligocene, Miocene and Pleistocene
ing water, air and agricultural soils in 10 commu- origin. They are generally characterised as very
nities contained over 900 times the permissible deep, well-drained soils, having loamy sand to
levels of hydrocarbon and heavy metals due to sandy loam surfaces over sandy clay loam to
oil and gas exploitation and spillage. The report sandy clay subsoil. The natural vegetation of the
posited that recovery after extensive compliance region is high rain forest. It is a region of high
with recommendations may take up to 30 years. plant diversity but low abundance, in which
Though natural gas is a more environmentally case, several tree species are expected to be the
friendly fuel ‘than other fossil fuels, the process dominant component of the vegetation. Howev-
of construction/installation and operation of a er, intensive farming activities for both subsist-
gas pipeline over a long distance will invariably ence and commercial purposes over a long pe-
have some environmental implications. It is also riod of time have drastically altered the floristic
essential that environmental impact assessments structure and composition of the natural vegeta-
are carried out before large scale enterprises are tion. At present, oil palm fields and plantations,
developed and that the development guidelines farmlands and agricultural mosaics characterize
contained within them must be strictly adhered the vegetation.
to. UNEP (2006), advocated that every econom-
ic project in the Niger Delta should be required Field work study
to incorporate environmental provisions us- The field work entailed a rigid grid method of
ing tools such as environmental impact assess- soil examination and identification, with the aid
ments, strategic environmental assessments and of Dutch soil auger. The soil types were exam-
environmental policy integration. This study ined and identified at the middle of the pipeline
was carried to evaluate the potential impact of route and at 50 m away each to the left and right
a 26 km by 100 m, 12” gas pipeline project, in of the pipeline, along the 100 m wide tract and
the Niger Delta region of Southern Nigeria and at intervals of 2 km along the route. This gives a
suggested mitigation measures for efficient en- total of 14 stations commencing from Owerrinta
vironmental management planning. (Station 1), to Umuacha (Aba North, Station 14).
The soils at the Industrial area (Ekeakpara) and

336
 Akinbola and Orimoloye NJSS 27 2017 335 - 344
at the point where the pipeline crosses the dual RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
carriage way (Mkpaka) were also examined.
This is to assess the effect of the land use types Soil characterizalion and classification
on the soils. At each station, the soil was probed The soils are generally well-drained, sandy
to a depth of 0-120 cm for characterization and loam/loamy sand on sandy clay loam to sandy
description of morphological properties. Modal clay (Table 1). The water content at saturation
profile pits were dug at the most representative ranges from 9.7 — 15.9 % at 0-15 cm depth and
station of the soil types identified. These were 8.8 — 15.9 % at the 15-30 cm depths across
described according to the FAO (1986) guide- the length of the proposed pipeline. The po-
lines and soil samples were collected for labora- tential moisture storage of the soils are moder-
tory analysis. ate. The soils have weak to moderate/medium
sub-angular blocky structures and naturally
Laboratory analysis
have a ground cover that would control ero-
The soils’ physical parameters (particle size, sion. The susceptibility to water erosion in the
hydraulic conductivity, and moisture content) area is moderate and if ground cover is main-
were determined using the methods described tained, the tendency for land degradation will be
by Helmut, (1968). The chemical properties greatly reduced. The chemical properties of the
were determined using the methods described soils (Table 2), indicate that the soils are gener-
by Anderson and Ingram (1993), and Ministry ally acidic; conforming to the generally acidic
of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1981). The nature of leached soils of this ecological zone
soils were classified based on the guidelines of (Ojanuga, 2006). The organic carbon, phosphate
Soil Survey Staff (2010), FAO/IUSS (2006) and and exchangeable cations are generally low. The
Moss (1975). CEC values were low and are generally below
the 4.0 cmol/kg critical level for arabic crop-
Impact assessment
ping, which further indicate the leached status
The impact assessment approach adopted in
of the soils characteristic of the area referred to
this study is the inventory technique (Canter.
as the ‘acid sands’ of southern Nigeria (Udoh
1996; Thomas, 2001). In this approach, an in-
and Sobulo, 1991; Ojanuga, 2006). The con-
ventory of environmental resources is compiled
centration of most of the heavy metals are low,
by assembling existing data or conducting base-
with the exception of Fe which may imply that
line monitoring with a presumption that the re-
the chemistry of the soils as revealed by the red
sources in the existing environment, or portions
colouration and rhodic subgroup of the soil tax-
of it, will be lost as a result of the proposed pro-
onomy are dominated by the oxides of iron (Fe).
ject or activity: The assessment of the potential
The summary of the classification of the soil
and associated environmental impacts of the
types in the study area is given in Table 3. The
project on the ecological variables (soil and land
soils are formed on strongly leached sandstones
parameters) that are most likely to be affected
which do not come down to mottled clays at
by the project at various stages was made by
lower depths. Three soil types were identified
scoring. This was based on the perceived level
along the proposed pipeline (Soil Survey Staff,
of severity or otherwise of the individual activ-
2010). The soils at Owerrinta community (pro-
ity/operation of the project.
337
Potential Impacts of Natural Gas Pipeline Construction

338
 Akinbola and Orimoloye NJSS 27 2017 335 - 344

339
Potential Impacts of Natural Gas Pipeline Construction

file OWT/SL/P1) was somewhat young

with evidence of alteration below 20 cm
but there were no clear or well developed
B horizons. In addition, features of recent
depositions depicted by irregular distribu-
tion of organic carbon in the profile diag-
nostic for fluvial/ alluvial deposits were
observed. Therefore, it was classified as
Inceptisols (Soil Survey Staff, 2010) and
Fluvisol (WRB, 2006). However, the soils
at Mkpuka (MPK/SL/P2) and Amavo
(AMV/SL/P3) are better developed with
evidence of illuvial clay migration to the
lower horizons. They were classified as
Ultisols and Nitosol in the soil taxonomy
and FAO/WRB classifications respective-
ly. At the series level, the younger soil at
Owerrinta was classified as Ngego, while
the Mpuka and Amavo soils were Ahi-
ara and Kulfo Series respectively (Moss,
1975).

Associated and potential environmen-

tal impacts
Table 4 depicts the scoring matrix of
the associated and potential impacts of
the activities of the pipeline project. Ac-
cording to Jay et al. (2007), this technique
can be perceived as a worst-case predic-
tion, and for certain types of resources it
represents a reasonable approach for use
in environmental impact studies. A use-
ful approach for determining the environ-
mental factors to be included in the ma-
trix is the valued ecosystem components.
Thomas (2001), explains that these can
be drawn from the ecological context of
the proposed project, and those aspects
perceived by the public to be important.
Aspects considered include the ecosys-

340
 Akinbola and Orimoloye NJSS 27 2017 335 - 344
tems that exist and their func-
tional relationships; the carrying
capacity of the bio-physical or
social environment the resil-
ience of the environment when
exposed to various stresses; the
weakest links in the systems; the
sensitivity of the environment
to stress and the level of biodi-
versity in the ecosystem. The
major impacts envisaged in this
project include loss of topsoil
(organic matter), modification
of overland drainage pattern,
rapid erosion and alteration in
land use pattern among others.
Wide-ranging and usually de-
structive environmental changes
have stemmed from oil and gas
extraction, industrialization and
urbanization in the Niger Delta
area (UNEP, 2006). Oil spills
and gas flares in particular have
destroyed natural resources cen-
tral to local livelihoods while
alienation of people from their
land and resources has led to
the inefficient use of remaining
resources and poor or inequita-
ble land-use practices. (UNEP,
2006, 2011). The most serious
human development problems
relate to environmental sustain-
ability, which is fundamental to
peoples well-being and develop-
ment.
The suggested mitigation
measures against the impacts
(Table 5) include limiting of
land clearing to the required

341
Potential Impacts of Natural Gas Pipeline Construction

342
 Akinbola and Orimoloye NJSS 27 2017 335 - 344
area, proper disposal of wastes, improvements put in place against the envisaged impacts of
of drainage network, minimal vehicular and such activities. This will invariably help to re-
labour traffic, etc. It is also suggested that re- duce the rate of land degradation and enhance
vegetation should be carried out in such a way rejuvenation of some already degraded ones.
that the natural biodiversity of the area is main- Thus, the quality of life will be enhanced for all.
tained. UNEP (2011), suggested that biodiver-
REFERENCES
sity protection should be integrated into land use
planning and forest management in relation to Anderson, J. M. and J. S. I. Ingram (1993).
oil and gas exploration in the Niger Delta Basin. Tropical Bology and Fertility. A handbook of
Project planning by local authorities, state and methods 2nd Edition. 219pp
national ministries and agencies, development
Canter, L.W. (1996). Environmental Impact As-
aid institutions and major private developers
sessment, Second ed. McGraw-Hill, New
should incorporate steps to determine ways to
York.
maintain key sites, species and genes, and pro-
FAO (1990). Guidelines for Soil Description.
visions for investments in research, assessment,
31(1 edition (revised). Soil Resources Man-
and forestry, agriculture, fisheries and wildlife
agement and Conservation Service, Land
management.
and Water Division, FAO, Rome
Closure and post closure care FAO/IUSS (2006). World Reference Base for
At closure there may be some negative ef- Soil resources. 2nd edition, World Soil Re-
fects on the soil environment, especially if the sources Reports No 103. FAO, Rome
pipes are to be removed. This will trigger off the Helmut, K. (1968). Soil Physics. TMH edition.
same impacts that may result at the installation, Pp 92-99
construction, and operation stages. However, if
Jay, S., Jones, C., Slinn, P. and Wood, C. (2007).
the pipes are not to be exhumed and appropriate
Environmental Impact Assessment: Retro-
mitigation measures applied, there is no likeli-
spect and prospect. Environmental Impact
hood of negative impacts on the soil environ-
Assessment Review 27: 287—300
ment, since the product of the operations is natu-
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
ral gas. This is on the premise that the source of
(1981). The Analysis of Agricultural Materi-
the gas is either exhausted or sealed off properly.
als. 2nd Edition. London. Her Majesty’s sta-
CONCLUSION tionery office.

While impact assessments are essential in any Moss, R. P. (1975). Report on the classification
project and EIA may lead to the abandonment of the soils found over sedimentary rocks
of certain proposals, its focus should be more in Western Nigeria. Institute of Agricultural
strongly on the mitigation of any harmful envi- Research and Training, Moor Plantation,
ronmental impacts likely to arise. It is pertinent Ibadan. Pp. 37
that existing and proposed human activities on Payraudeau, S. and van der Werf, H.M.G. (2005)
land/soil be related to its characteristics and Environmental impact assessment for a farm-
qualities, and appropriate mitigation measures ing region: a review of methods. Agriculture,

343
 Potential Impacts of Natural Gas Pipeline Construction

Ecosystems and Environment 107: 1—19 United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)
Smith, C.G., McDonald, G.T. and Thwaites, R. (2011). The Ogoni Environmental Appraisal
N. (2000). TIM: assessing the sustainability (OEA) Report. UNDP, Nigeria. Abuja. 316
of agricultural land management. Journal of pp.
Environmental Management. 60: 267—28 8 Wang, Y., Yang, J. and Xu, D. (2006). Environ-
Soil Survey Staff, (2003). Keys to Soil Taxono- mental impact assessment using the eviden-
my. (9th Edition), United States Department tial reasoning approach. European Journal of
of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conserva- Operational Research 174: 1885—1913
tion Service. World Resource Institute (1992). The World Re-
Thomas, 1. (2001). Environmental Impact As- sources 1992-93, New York Oxford Univer-
sessment in Australia: Theory and Practice sity Press.
(3 Edition). The Federation Press. Pp 12
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)
(2006). Niger Delta human development re-
port. UNEP, Nigeria. 229 pp.

344