Factory-Related Environmental Pollution: A Study Of The Impact Of Cement Dust On Soil Quality Around Dangote Cement Plant, Tse-Kutcha, Gboko Local Government Area, Benue State

Environmental pollution has been a close embodiment of the human society since man’s first appearance on the planet earth some few hundreds of thousand years ago. This paper examines the impact of dust emission from the exploitation and processing of limestone by the Dangote Cement Factory on the soils of Tse-kucha community. Soil profile at the depth of 0 – 80 cm were dug at distances of 0.5 km (Tse-Kucha), 1.0 km (Amua) and 1.5 km (Amua) and soil samples were collected from each horizon of the soil profile. Soil samples were also collected from another profile dug at Gaando, a nearby community to Tse-kucha where there are no cement dusts in soils for comparison. The soil samples were analysed for some physical and chemical properties related to soil fertility such as pH, organic carbon, exchangeable bases; Ca, Mg, Na and K, exchangeable acidity, infiltration capacities, available phosphorous, total nitrogen, cation exchange capacity and percentage base saturation using standard analytical procedures. Additionally, structured questionnaire was designed and administered on the respondents of the study area to complement information needed on the impact of Dangote cement plant on soil quality of the study area. The results revealed a predominantly sandy-loamy composition with significant (p < 0.05) difference in the soil parameters tested. Furthermore, the result revealed that cement dust emissions from the factory significantly affect the yield of crops in study area. area.