Bioremediation of Crude-Oil-Contaminated Soil Using Oil Palm Frond (Leaf)

Crude oil spillage is a major problem in Nigeria as it basically affects soils, plants grown on the soil, and the environment at large. The need to remediate crude-oil-contaminated soil to its original state is of utmost importance. The potential of oil palm frond (leaf) to remediate crude-oil-contaminated soil was investigated in this study. The soil samples were analyzed before and after contamination, during bioremediation process and after the treatment process by determining the pH, moisture content and total organic carbon (TOC) parameters of the soil sample each week for a period of four (4) weeks. The results obtained showed that the pH of the soil sample before and after contamination were pH 8.0 and pH 6.0 respectively, while during the bioremediation process with the oil palm frond (leaf) sample applied on the contaminated soil samples and at the end of the treatment process, the pH of the samples was pH 6.2, pH 6.3, pH 8.0, pH 7.0 respectively. The moisture content result obtained showed that the soil sample before and after contamination were 16.2% and 11.2% respectively, during the bioremediation process and at the end of the treatment process the moisture content were 7.5%, 1.4%, 7.4%, and 9.4% respectively. While the TOC result obtained for the soil sample before and after contamination were 2.55% and 1.22% respectively while during the bioremediation process the results were 1.22%, 1.22%, 1.29%, 1.36% respectively. This demonstrated the ability of oil palm frond (leaf) to reduce contaminants in the soil and consequently remediate the crude oil contaminated soil to an extent. Scholars Middle East Publish