ارزیابی آلاینده های موجود در جریان اطراف یک کارخانه سیمان در نیجریه Assessment of Pollutants in Streams around a Cement Plant in Central Nigeria

I. INTRODUCTION Within the last three decades, global concern has accelerated and focused on anthropogenic activities that alter the natural environment during natural resources exploitation and the attendant impact on the physical environment. These concerns have translated into several initiatives at the global level intended for adoption at national and local levels ultimately, with a view to engendering environmental sustainability (1). In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro, produced an action document tagged Agenda 21. The document acknowledged the perpetuation and worsening deterioration of ecosystems on which we depend for our well-being, amongst other social-economic disparities between nations. Similarly, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) came into force in 1994 (now totaling 194 parties/countries). Further, the Millennium Declaration in 2000 by 189 countries produced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) document which broadly seeks to address environmental degradation issues and socio-economic disparities among nations before the year 2015. In spite of the broad dimensions of the various global instruments generally aimed at sustainability in environmental resources utilization, of specific interest to this study is the MDG No. 7 which states, inter alia: To ensure environmental sustainability, vide: Target 7A: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs; reverse loss of environmental resources;…. Target 7C: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water…. This study therefore, intends to verify the level of adoption of (part of) the MDG No. 7 at the Dangote Cement Company, Yandev, a part of rural Nigeria where limestone mining and cement production activities have been on-going over the past 3 decades. Although the overall global proportion of people using an improved water source rose from 76% in 1990 to 89% in 2010, over 40% of all people without improved drinking water live in sub-Saharan Africa (2). This presents a significant challenge to countries within and peoples living in the Sub-Saharan African region. Therefore, there is every need to protect the available water resources in Sub-Saharan Africa, with specific emphasis on prevention. As rightly indicated by (3), the knowledge of extent of pollution and the status of water becomes essential in order to preserve the valuable source of water for present and future generations. According to (4; 5), the qualities of a water resource (surface and sub-surface) depend on the management of anthropogenic discharges within, as well as the natural physic-chemical characteristics of the catchment areas. The focus in this study is however, on the influence of anthropogenic activities (limestone mining and cement production) on the quality of surface water around the study area. The study is deemed necessary as there was no environmental impact assessment carried out prior to the establishment of the factory. Aside being a major environmental component, water is also invaluable to human, animal and plant populations. Hence, investigation into the status of water quality at the study area, and indeed elsewhere, is of scientific, economic and environmental significance. II. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The central objectives of this study are:  Determine the level of concentration of pollutants in water within the study area;  Compare the water quality between host communities and a control community to ascertain the degree of variance in amount of water pollutants present between the two; and,  Compare WHO water quality guidelines with amount of pollutants found in water within the study area to assess water quality status