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ABSTRACT
Studies were carried out on the evaluation of the intensity of contamination by four applied rates of crude oil on the characteristics of an ultisol in Okha, Benin City, Nigeria. The aims were to determine the properties of the soil pre/post contamination with crude oil. Then determined which of the levels of contamination mostly affected the soil properties. Different levels (0,250,500 and 1000, 2000) ml of crude oil were added to 5kg of soil in plastic pots. Each treatment was replicated five times. The changes in the soil properties observed periodically after contamination was used as a bench mark to draw an inference on the changes in the soil properties. The duration of contamination was thirty days of which the soil was not disturbed. It was observed that the levels of contamination had different effects on the soil. Observation were made on the soil properties before the contamination and compared to those after contamination. Nutrients such as N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na and even the micronutrients declined. A comparison of these decrease in nutrients within the time after contamination indicated the decreased values within the period. Soil properties of the applied rate of 2000 ml crude oil to 5kg soil showed the highest decrease in nutrients when compared to those of the lower levels of 1000, 500 and 250 ml of crude oil/5kg of soil respectively. The significance (p=0.05) differences obtained for the different levels showed that the more the intensity of pollution the more the soil properties will be degraded. This might lead to an inference that when contamination occurs in a soil due to crude oil spillage, the intensity of the contamination would still determine the rate of contamination of the soil. In this study it was also observed that the levels of crude oil contamination affected the soil accordingly with high levels having the most effect on the soil properties.
