Post Impact Studies of Hydrocarbon Leakage into Groundwater Wells of Egita/Obite Community, Rivers State Nigeria

Abstract

Pipelines conveying flammable or explosive material, such as natural gas or oil, pose special safety concerns and there have been various accidents. Oil pipelines are made from steel or plastic tubes which are usually buried. The study investigated the groundwater condition of two oil producing communities (Obite and Egita) after a snubbing operation to stop the eruption of gases both in the facility and the surrounding villages, as a result of pipeline accident in April, 2012. The operation involved installation of concentric pipes in the well to pump in heavy fluid and stop the flow of reservoir fluids. Samples of groundwater were collected from selected five sample stations during the month of October, 2014 in the study area using sterilized plastic and metal buckets, and transported to the laboratory for analysis. Standard analytical methods were adopted both for field sampling and laboratory analysis. The results of the analysed samples indicated that the groundwater was slightly acidic as a result of organic pollution by leakage of the hydrocarbon into the wells. The measured concentration of faecal coliform exceeded WHO safe limit for drinking water. However other parameters analysed were within the standard limits of WHO. The results revealed that the snubbing operation over the gas accident minimized adverse impact on the groundwater as most of the physicochemical variables were within safe limits. There was a possibility, the impact had been attenuated by nature.

Keywords: Groundwater, Pipeline Accident, Impacts, Hydrocarbon.