Remediation of Soil Contaminated with Motor Spirit using Compost Material

Abstract

Spillage of premium motor spirit (PMS) on land, due to either vandalisation of pipelines or accidents during transportation of petroleum in developing countries like Nigeria, could pollute agricultural lands and reduce productivity. This study considered compost to remediate a premium motor spirit polluted soil for agricultural purposes using Amaranthus caudatus as a test crop. The experiment was conducted in two years and two sowing phases each. The 1st study was done using potted soil samples while the 2nd study was a field trial. Compost treatment was applied in both experiments at 100 kgN/ha, 200 kgN/ha and 300 kgN/ha and Pollution treatments were heavy (3P), Medium (2P), and Light (1P) pollution at 1,384 ba/ha, 692 ba/ha and 384 ba/ha respectively. Treatment combinations were varied for both experiments. Results showed nil growth of amaranths for the 1st study due to premium motor spirit pollution and also showed that compost applied at 300 kgN/ha at all levels of pollution in the two studies resulted in better response of amaranths, while the 200 kg N/ha compost under Medium pollution (2P = 692 ba/ha) also resulted in better yield of amaranths in the residual field experiment. The results indicate that ameliorative effects of compost seem to increase with the increase in the level of amendment. This could be a cheap way for local farmers in Nigeria and other developing countries with similar occurrences to remediate their farmlands in case of premium motor spirit pollution.