ASSESSING AND FORECASTING THE IMPACT OF BIOREMEDIATION PRODUCT DERIVED FROM NIGERIA LOCAL RAW MATERIALS ON ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF SOILS CONTAMINATED WITH PETROLEUM PRODUCTS

As a contribution to the promotion of local content policy in the study of petroleum and environment in Nigeria, a bioremediation agent (Ecorem) was formulated from local raw materials. Process kinetics to study operation mechanism of the product was subsequently embarked upon. This study was aimed at assessing the impact of the formulation on soil electrical conductivity (SEC) as a part study on its effect on soil properties. Influence of product-soil weight ratio on SEC was examined and predictive equations were developed. Result showed that Ecorem increased SEC by 13.43 to 23.03%, improved the original soil status (159.25 ±9.25 μScm-1) by 8.63 to 52.94% and did not render the treated soil saline. The effect also varied with Ecorem – soil weight ratio, giving positive correlations with coefficients of up to 0.967 (p = 0.01); which is a function of petroleum product type. Predictive equations developed showed that for planning remediation project execution using Ecorem; for soil contaminated by petroleum products such as spent engine oil and crude oil, marginal negative errors of 9% and positive error of 2 to 17% should be taken into consideration.