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The proponents would like to dedicate this design project to their parents,
families, friends, instructors, special individuals in their lives and to the Lord our God
who gave them the strength and guidance. They are very grateful to have them as their
inspiration that led to the success and development of the design project. Without their
patience, understanding, support and most of all love, the completion of this work would
not have been possible.
Acknowledgments (optional)
Table of Contents
I. Background
In the modern world where technology and various machineries were used, oil is indeed
important. The world would almost grind to a halt without oil. Cars would stop running, so would
factories and airplanes would be grounded. Many things in the society is connected to oil. But do
humans wonder about how oil is drilled and refined? That this drilling processes have effects on
the environment. Offshore drilling operations create various forms of pollution that have
considerable negative effects on marine and other wildlife. These include drilling muds, brine
wastes, deck runoff water and flow line and pipeline leaks. Catastrophic spills and blowouts are
also a threat from offshore drilling operations. These operations also pose a threat to human health,
especially to oil platform workers themselves. According to the OCEANA, an organization that
aims to protect the world oceans, they stated that drilling muds and produced water are disposed
of daily by offshore rigs. Offshore rigs can dump tons of drilling fluid, metal cuttings, including
toxic metals, such as lead chromium and mercury, as well as carcinogens, such as benzene, into
the ocean. In the Deep-water Horizon disaster, the greatest oil spill ever happened at the Gulf of
Mexico, wherein there are one hundred twenty six (126) crew members aboard at the time of
explosion: 79 workers of Transocean, seven employees of BP, and a host of employees from other
companies according to the findings of Pendlebury, Richard (16 June 2010). Due to this oil spill
there was great number of mutated fish found the Gulf. The cause of these deformities was as a
result of the chemicals and the dispersants which were used to clean up the Gulf. These deformities
include fish with sores, fish, and crabs born without eyes, and fish with cuts. Based on the findings
of Sahagun, Louis (February 13, 2014), fish were killed due to the toxins from the oil spills which
caused cardiac arrests.
Petroleum contaminate substances have various effects to the environment and also to
human beings, example of this is the drilling muds where in it is used for the lubrication and
cooling of the drill bit and pipe, it also remove cuttings that come from the bottom of the oil well
and help prevent blowouts by acting as a sealant. Discharging this muds which are also a toxic will
affect the marine life. Another substance which is discharge to the ocean is the produced water, it
is a fluid trapped underground and brought up with the oil and gas. It makes up about 20 percent
of the waste associated with offshore drilling. Produced waters usually have an oil content of 30
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to 40 parts per million. As a result, the nearly 2 billion gallons of produced water released into the
Cook Inlet in Alaska each year contain about 70,000 gallons of oil.
Petroleum is indeed important in the society, petroleum and its by- products are used to
fuel various forms of transporation, industry and domestic electricity use. Also it is used to produce
plastics wherein it is used for the packaging of goods and other products essential for daily life.
Although petroleum is a great help to our life, over the years the environmental effects of this has
been increasing. The environmental impacts of it is mainly negative. This is due to the toxicity of
petroleumwhich contributed to air pollution, acid rain, and various llnesses in humans. Petroleum
also fuels climate change, due to the increased greenhouse gas emissions in its extraction,
refinement, transport and consumption phases.
With the help of the petroleum industry the progress of the society skyrocketed, but little
did the Humans know that in exchange to this growth of the economy is destruction of our
environment. The impacts of the humans activities are gradually getting worse, not only the
animals are affected but also the life of the humans.
The reason why the reseachers chose this topic is to widen the knowledge that the humans
have about the impacts of human activities of the environments especially the petroleum industry
and also the simple human activities that adds to the destruction of the environment. This study
aims for the awareness of the people in the society to lessens the effects and to find a better
solution in the near future.
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As you begin to write the problem statement of your Concept Paper, consider your
research. First consider why you feel the problem is important. Consider how your
study relates to previous work in the field, how you will link your hypotheses and
objectives to theory, and how the hypotheses relate to the research design. Finally,
consider the theoretical and practical implications involved in your research project
(APA, 2010). A well-developed, concise, and clear problem statement will lay the
foundation for a strong Concept Paper and the dissertation that follows.
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Petroleum (crude) oil are compounded of thousands compounds mixture. 50–98% of crude
oil is Petroleum hydrocarbons which considered a major component depending on the source of
the oil. Different microorganisms could be applied for Petroleum hydrocarbons biodegradation.
However, bacteria considered important biodegrable microorganisms which play a critical role in
hydrocarbon degradation (Udgire et al., 2015). One of the initiative efficient, economical and
environmental treatment mechanisms for petroleum biodegradation is In situ biodegradation
through degrade petroleum and other hydrocarbons from culture via widely distributed
microorganisms and applied for varied hydrocarbon-contaminated soils and waters. Thus,
continuous evaluation for biodegradation rate considered a critical needed for different
biodegradable microorganisms. Petroleum hydrocarbons biodegradable illumination depends on
the indigenous microorganisms to transform or mineralize the organic contaminants Many
different factors of contaminated soil characterize influence petroleum hydrocarbons bacterial
biodegradation such as pH, electrical conductivity, total nitrogen and heavy metal which are
important indicators of soil quality, fertility and productivity. Eight hydrocarbon degrading
bacteria were specifically detected as Alcaligen sp, Bacillus sp, Chromobacterium sp,
Corynebacterium sp, Pseudomonas sp, Aeromonas sp, Serratia sp, and Flavobacterium sp.
(Gayathiri et al., 2017).
The Niger Delta region is an extremely prolific hydrocarbon province. The Niger Delta
region consists of 9 oil producing states (Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta,Edo,
Ondo, Imo and Rivers) and 185 local government areas. Osuji and Onojake (Osuji et al, 2004) the
Niger Delta region cuts across over 800 oil producing communities with an extensive network of
over 900 producing oil wells and several petroleum production related facilities. Over the past five
decades, a total of about 1,182 exploration wells have been drilled to date in the delta basin, and
about 400 oil and gas fields of varying sizes have been documented (Obaje, 2009), however, it has
been reported that six states out of the nine oil producing statesof the Niger Delta region (Akwa
Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers) are also the epicentre of an ongoing
insurgency and civil unrest in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
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From the geological perspective, the Niger Delta region is a hydrocarbon rich province
with ultimate recovery currently estimated at nearly 40 billion barrels of oil. This accounts for
more than 70 % of the overall hydrocarbon reserves of sub-Saharan Africa (Adegoke et al, 2017).
Although the Niger Delta region is one of the most petroleum hydrocarbons resource–rich regions
in theworld, it remains mired in cycles of conflicts that have perpetuated underdevelopment,
threaten human security (Taft et al,2009), habitat destruction (Payet, 2011), bunkering/artisanal
refining and petroleum contamination of the natural environment (Arimoro et al, 2018) Overall, a
brief history of petroleum exploration and production in the Niger Delta region has been
extensively reviewed by few researchers (Okorobia et al, 2018).
Apart from the negative impacts on the natural resources, some of the environmental
problems associated with petroleum hydrocarbons exploration and production include oil spills,
gas flaring and venting, improper discharges of petroleum hydrocarbon–derived chemical wastes,
contamination of controlled water sources, contamination of soil and sediments, and destruction
of the farmland and the marine environment (Ite et al, 2015).
Petroleum pollutants in the tropical region like the Nigeria’s Niger Delta region consist of
complex mixtures of both the aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons The major pollutants in
drinking water supplies fall into three general classes: petroleum hydrocarbons, halogenated
hydrocarbons, and taste–and–odour compounds (which comprise of algae and bacteria). Petroleum
hydrocarbons consist of the most ubiquitous pollutants and apart from polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs), the most prevalent are the volatile organic compounds (VOCs): benzene,
toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX). It is known that BTEX are often found in water
supplies, but certainly not exclusively in groundwaters because of the widespread use of petroleum
hydrocarbons and their relatively high-water solubility (130 – 1780 mg l-1 at 20°C) (Ite et al,
2013).
The Philippines is naturally endowed with abundant freshwater resources to fulfill its need
for water supply, industrial usage, as well as for irrigation. From about 2360 mm of annual
precipitation, a third fills the country’s inland waters, flows to the ocean as natural runoff, and
enters underground aquifers through percolation. The country has 59 lakes covering some 200,000
ha. There are about 130,000 ha of artificial reservoirs and 126,000 ha of freshwater swamps. Water
flows reach the sea through 421 principal rivers, with drainage basins over 40 km2 each
(Matsumura et al. 2003).
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of the islands allows for the growth of corn, sugar cane, root crops, and rice. Agricultureuses
approximately 32% of the total land in the Philippines. The Philippines is only a small exporter of
agricultural goods and livestock. The islands export live fish, processed fish, seafood, bananas,
tree nuts, and tropical fruit, such as coconuts. The country has also experienced some negative
impacts of globalization; pollution of the lakes and rivers has become a serious topic of concern.
Currently, manufacturers are openly dumping hazardous chemicals into Laguna Lake and the Pasig
River.
According to Ordinioha and Brisibe 2013, an average of 240,000 barrels of crude oil are
spilled in the Nigeria’s Niger delta region every year and the spillage may be attributed to unknown
causes (31.85 %), third party activity (20.74 %), and accidental and/or equipment failure (17.04
%). Although many of the largest oil spills in the world have been caused by accidental terrestrial
blow outs, leakages from pipelines due to sabotage, operational failures and neglected maintenance
may account for most of petroleum contamination of terrestrial environment in the Niger delta
region. The unsustainable activities of petroleum industries in the oil–rich region like the Niger
Delta region reflect the inadequate effective statutory laws and regulations as well as lack of
regulatory enforcements for environmental protection.
Accoding to Ite et al 2013, the exploration and production activities of the petroleum
industry have resulted in severe negative impacts on the Niger Delta region and its people over the
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past decades. Some specific major disasters include the death of 180 people as a result of the
extensive 1980 Texaco spill that contaminated streams which served as drinking water sources,
and those that have killed children, leading to the hospitalization of more than one hundred
residents due to the consumption of petroleum hydrocarbon–contaminated water. Over the past
fifty–five years, petroleum hydrocarbon contamination of soil and water resources has become a
serious environmental concerns and human health risks because of the carcinogenic and
mutagenicproperties of some of the various hydrocarbon compounds.
According to Ite and Semple 2012, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) containing
from two to five fused aromatic rings are of serious concern because of their persistence in nature
due to their lipophilic character and electrochemical stability. It is known that PAHs are relatively
recalcitrant in soils and some PAHs have been identified as carcinogens, mutagens, or teratogens.
Apart from crude oil spills, improper discharges and/or disposal of petroleum–derived hazardous
wastes such as produced water, poorly treated wastewater from oil refineries and petrochemical
effluents have become another potential source of surface water and marine environment pollution.
However, such improper discharges and/or disposal of petroleum–derived hazardous wastes have
not yet received proper attention from the Nigerian government and the public over the years.
Based on an assessment by the Water Environment Partnership Asia (WEPA) 2017, there
are about 85,000 manufacturing industries in the Philippines (WEPA n.d.). Basically, all
manufacturing activities consume significant amounts of water during some point in the
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production process. Metro Manila is reported to be the main industrial region and accounts for
about 52% of total manufacturing industries. As with many countries in the world, the rapidly
developing industrial sector in the Philippines is a major consumer of water and a major contributor
to water pollution. In highly urbanized and highly industrialized areas, industrial wastewater
contributes about 30% of pollution discharges, while 60% comes from domestic sources. While
industrial wastewater contributes less to pollution discharges than domestic wastewater, its adverse
environmental impact is often greater due to the nature and concentration of pollutants.
An article published by Greenpeace 2010 states that 50 out of 421 rivers in the region are
considered biologically dead, meaning that the riversdo not contain any oxygen and are unable to
support most species of life.The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) determined that only
47% out of the Philippines’ 127 freshwater bodies retain good water quality. Also, 58% of
groundwater reserves tested positive for coliform contamination. Even the Marilao River, which
runs through the capital city, Manila, was featured on Soapboxie’s list of Top 10 Most Polluted
Rivers in the World. The water pollution crisis within the Philippines has been estimated to cost
$1.3 billion USD annually. The abundance of pollutants in the local water supply has negatively
impacted the standard of life in this Southeast Asian country. Sources of water in the Philippines
suffer from a range of contaminants. Industrial water waste coming from chemical and
petrochemical plants contains chemical pollutants such as chromium, cadmium, lead, mercury,
and cyanide.These pollutants persist over long periods of time and are often referred to as stock
pollutants,but their origins from industrial sources also allow them to be characterized as point-
source pollution.Other harmful wastes, such as decayed plants, livestock manure, dead animals,
soil runoff, and residue, are organic wastes that have contributed to the Philippines’ pollution
problem. Because they do not originate from industrial sources, these specific pollutants are
commonly called nonpoint source pollution
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IV. Findings
This summarizes the collected data and presents the results to the reader. Discuss
thoroughly the finding that includes the explanations, implications, and applications of
the findings. The results and implications should be presented in a straightforward way.
V. Summary
It includes points that were actually learned from the study. They are answer to the sub-
questions raised in the statement of the problems. They are written concisely and
convey all the information resulting from the study. The lay summary should be 250
words or less and is intended as a brief, simplified summary.
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VI. References
Citation
Osuji, L. C., and C. M. Onojake, “Trace heavy metals associated with crude oil: A case study of
Ebocha-8 oil-spill-polluted site in Niger Delta, Nigeria,” Chemistry and Biodiversity, 1 (11). 1708-
1715, 2004.
Obaje, N. G., Geology and mineral resources of Nigeria, London, UK: Springer, 2009.
Adegoke, O. S., A. S. Oyebamiji, J. J. Edet, P. L. Osterloff, and O. K. Ulu, "Geology of the Niger
Delta Basin," Cenozoic Foraminifera and Calcareous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy of the Niger
Delta, O. S. Adegoke, A. S. Oyebamiji, J. J. Edet, P. L. Osterloff and O. K. Ulu, eds., pp. 25-66,
Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier, 2017.
Scheren, P. A., A. C. Ibe, F. J. Janssen, and A. M. Lemmens, “Environmental Pollution in the Gulf
of Guinea – A Regional Approach,” Marine Pollution Bulletin, 44 (7). 633-641, 2002.
Ite, A. E., U. J. Ibok, M. U. Ite, and S. W. Petters, “Petroleum Exploration and Production: Past
and Present Environmental Issues in the Nigeria's Niger Delta,” American Journal of
Environmental Protection, 1 (4). 78-90, 2013.
R. Payet, Diop, S., R. Arthurton, P. Scheren, J. Kitheka, and K. Koranteng "The Coastal and
Marine Environment of Western and Eastern Africa: Challenges to Sustainable Management and
Socioeconomic Development," Treatise on Estuarine and CoastalScience, pp. 315-335, Waltham:
Academic Press, 2011.
Okwechime, I., "Environmental Conflicts and Forced Migration in the Nigerian Niger Delta,"
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Africa Now! : Emerging Issues and Alternative Perspectives, A. Adeniran and L. Ikuteyijo, eds.,
pp. 363-385, Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2018.
Taft, P., and N. Haken, "Niger Delta Overview," Violence in Nigeria: Patterns and Trends, P. Taft
and N. Haken, eds., pp. 9-50,Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2015
Nwilo, P. C., and O. T. Badejo, “Impacts and management of oil spill pollution along the Nigerian
coastal areas,” Administering Marine Spaces: International Issues119-133, 2006.
Ordinioha, B., and S. Brisibe, The human health implications of crude oil spills in the Niger delta,
Nigeria: An interpretation ofpublished studies, 2013.
Nwilo, P. C., and O. T. Badejo, “Impacts and management of oil spill pollution along the Nigerian
coastal areas,” AdministeringMarine Spaces: International Issues119-133, 2006.
Migo V.P., Mendoza M.D., Alfafara C.G., Pulhin J.M. (2018) Industrial Water Use and the
Associated Pollution and Disposal Problems in the Philippines. In: Rola A., Pulhin J., Arcala Hall
R. (eds) Water Policy in the Philippines. Global Issues in Water Policy, vol 8. Springer, Cham
http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/ph/What-we-do/Toxics/Water-Patrol/The-problem/
“Philippines,” OEC – Philippines (PHL) Exports, Imports, and Trade Partners, 2017,
https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/phl/.
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R. Quentin Grafton, The Economics of the Environment and Natural Resources (Malden, MA: Blackwell
Pub.,
2004), http://site.ebrary.com/id/10158663.
VII. Appendices
These are materials that cannot be presented in the body of the report but are helpful
to the reader if they wish to further the information on the subject.
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