Post-oil-spill fires at Ugbomro (Niger Delta): a new vista in soil-pollution studies

Reconnaissance of the post-oil-spill, fire-scourged site at Ugbomro, in the Niger Delta, was contingent upon the loud public outcry and galvanizing hue that ensued the widespread conflagration. Sampling was carried out by the grid technique, and fire-scourged soils and their unaffected controls were analyzed. Contrary to the 'celebrated' opinion of some that the fires improvised bush fallowing for cropping, the site had witnessed severe impoverishment as evidenced by the hitherto neglected insidious impact of such infernos on soil macronutrients. Alterations in physico-chemical properties (pH, conductivity, etc.) provided adequate bases for this conclusion, and offered broad explanations for the paucity of macronutrients in affected soils. For instance, a pH range of 3.1-3.8 hindered N2 fixation and other metabolic activities that enhance mineralization. Elaeis guineensis in a density of 3 stands/m2 at the control site was the only tree-form not charred beyond recognition.Against future fires, it is important to strengthen contingencies for more-expedient clean-up responses to oil spills to severe possibilities of in situ conflagrations. Nutrient supplementations, revegetation, and site surveillance should disengage the 'unsighted fingers' of sabotage. A careful husbandry of these measures might re-establish nutrient stability, and forestall future re-occurrence of such effacing incidents.