Oil Producing and Agro-Ecological Area in the Niger Delta, Nigeria: A Case of Oil Spillage

Environmental evaluation review (EER) is considered useful indicator of post mortem analysis of oil polluted soils. Oil by itself on polluting the soil is not toxic to plants but it exerts its adverse effects on plant indirectly by creating certain conditions which make nutrients essential for plant growth unavailable, while the adverse conditions creates in the soil makes some nutrient like Zn and Fe more available and toxic to plant. This research hypothesized that crude oil spillage has strongly influenced on soil properties dynamics of some Ultisols found in the Niger Delta environment. The study was conducted on soil samples collected from crude oil spilled sites (n= 46), between two months and five years after spillage. The soil texture ranged from sand to loam, while the colour varied from dark brown (7.5 YR 3/2) to dark yellow grayish brown (10 YR 5/2) and was generally dark brown within two month of the spillage. Soils in some locations on the surface appeared to be fertile. However, this colour change only occur to a depth of a few centimetres and then change to a mottled yellow-grey indicating anaerobic conditions in part of the years. Generally, organic compounds were more in the spilled soils than the adjacent soils after five years