Abstract: Soil heavy metal concentration is being altered by the outcome of flaring activities. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the effect of gas flaring on soil heavy metal concentration in Niger Delta oil producing community of Ologbo, Edo State, Nigeria. Specifically, it examined the effect of gas flaring on soil heavy metal concentration at 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm depths. Field-based survey was adopted to obtain six soil samples (depth: 0-15cm and 15-30cm) from three stations (500m, 2,000m and 4,000m) away from the Gas Flare Sites (GFS) and two from control point (CP) (30,000m away) for comparison. The Soil Quality Parameters (SQPs) investigated include: iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), vanadium (V) and hydrocarbon content (THC) while descriptive statistics and the Student’s t-test were used in data analysis and hypotheses testing. Results showed that at 0-15cm depth, Fe, Mn, Zn Cu Cr and Cd werehighest at station 3 with the lowest values at station 2. Regarding 15-30cm depth, results showed that Fe, Mn, Zn Cu Cr and Cd were also highest at station 3. Generally, Fe, Mn, Zn Cu Cr and Cd were significantly enriched at all sample stations when compared with the control station with Fe, Zn and Mn being the highest heavy metal contaminants. Statistical testsshowed no significant difference in SQPs spatially and vertically portraying no possible effect of gas flaring on soil heavy metal concentration. Periodic monitoring of SQPs is recommended with the view to detecting possible changes arising from unabated gas flaring.
Key words: Control station, Gas flaring, Heavy metal concentration, Oil producing communities