title: A multi-attribute methodology for the prioritisation of oil contaminated sites in the Niger Delta.
abstract: The Ogoniland region of the Niger Delta contains a vast number of sites contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons that originated from Nigeria's active oil sector. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reported on this widespread contamination in 2011, however, wide-scale action to clean-up these sites has yet to be initiated. A challenge for decision makers responsible for the clean-up of these sites has been the prioritisation of sites to enable appropriate allocation of scarce resources. In this study, a risk-based multi-criteria decision analysis framework was used to prioritise high-risk sites contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons in the Ogoniland region of Nigeria. The prioritisation method used a set of risk-based attributes that took into account chemical and ecological impacts, as well as socio-economic impacts, providing a holistic assessment of the risk. Data for the analysis was taken from the UNEP Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland, where over 110 communities were assessed for oil-contamination. Results from our prioritisation show that the highest-ranking sites were not necessarily the sites with the highest observed level of hydrocarbon contamination. This differentiation was due to our use of proximity as a surrogate measure for likelihood of exposure. Composite measures of risk provide a more robust assessment, and can enrich discussions about risk management and the allocation of resources for the clean-up of affected sites.
authors.affiliation: Cranfield University, School of Water, Energy, and Environment, College Road, Cranfield MK43 0AL, UK.
authors.forename: Kabari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sam
authors.affiliation: Cranfield University, School of Water, Energy, and Environment, College Road, Cranfield MK43 0AL, UK.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Coulon
authors.affiliation: Cranfield University, School of Water, Energy, and Environment, College Road, Cranfield MK43 0AL, UK. Electronic address: prpich@outlook.com.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Prpich
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis; D009549:Nigeria; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis*; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D010578:Petroleum
keywords: Hydrocarbons; Niger Delta; Ogoniland; Oil contamination; Risk-based prioritisation