Physico-Chemical Characteristic of a Petroleum Contaminated Soil from the Spill site of Jaffna District.

Abstract

Contamination of soil with petroleum products is among the most common sources of pollution in an industrialized world. This poses severe threats to the local communities and the ecosystem. Consequences of soil contaminations by petroleum products are multi-dimensional and thus their assessment has remained major problem. The presence of total organic carbon (TOC), heavy metals, electrical conductivity (EC) and pH were determined from petroleum contaminated soil samples from the spilled location of power plant premises of Chunnakam, Jaffna district. Three spilled locations have been identified and samples were collected from each location for this study. Control samples were collected from the uncontaminated location from the area same as the geology of the affected area. Results revealed that the heavy metal content of lead and nickel were higher than those of the control site and the recommended permissible limit. Evidence of severe hydrocarbon contamination was confirmed by presence of elevated level total organic carbon in the contaminated soil. Other analyzed metals including ferrous and manganese and physical parameters such as electrical conductivity and pH in the impacted zone have not shown any significant differences, while compared to the control samples.