Abstract

Nitrogenous fertilizer (NPK) plant effluents from NAFCON were used in amending plots of land experimentally polluted with crude oil. Results obtained showed that NPK served as a good soil for the natural removal of contaminating crude from soils. Crude oil disappearance in untreated plots ranged between 8.70 and 34.80% and 20.90 and 60.50% for treated plots; cumulative loss was 73.0%. The disappearance was influenced by the N/P ratio in the supplementing fertilizer effluent. Crops grown on the experimental plots at the end of the study period indicated good soil recovery. The study revealed that fertilizer factory effluents, a cheap source of NPK can be applied to petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soils in a controlled manner to improve crop germination recovery on such soils.

Key words: Nitrogenous, fertilizer, effluents, farm, crops, pollution, petroleum.